


Je Rentre

by jd4941



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/F, F/M, Gen, Multi, Other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-12-27
Updated: 2017-07-19
Packaged: 2018-05-09 17:54:07
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 25,078
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5549882
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jd4941/pseuds/jd4941
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>AU SB<br/>Emma Mills and Regina Nolan had always known that something wasn't right. No matter what they did they just could not seem to fit in. They had no idea what was coming.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Somewhere I Belong

**Author's Note:**

> I do not own OUaT nor any of its characters.

**CHAPTER 1**

"Oh my god!" Emma slammed her door shut. She flopped onto her bed and screamed into her pillow. Her Mother was really driving her up the wall.

Cora Mills was beautiful, poised, elegant, graceful, and everything that her daughter would never be. Cora had dark hair and eyes whereas Emma had wild blonde curls and green eyes. Cora was voluptuous whereas Emma was athletic and lithe. Cora was brilliant whereas Emma was just Emma.

Nothing Emma did was ever right or good enough for Cora. She just refused to accept that Emma was not going to walk in her or her sister's footsteps. Emma spent day and night working herself half to death to live up to Cora's high standards and still her grades were at best mediocre.

The latest argument between them had occurred because Cora wanted Emma to start taking the PSAT's. She thought it would help them figure out what Emma needed to work on the most and get her started on the way to this future that Emma wasn't even sure she even wanted. Graduation wasn't even for another 3 years.

There was a light tapping at the door. Emma knew exactly who it was. She turned her face away and buried it in her pillow.

Henry Sr. sat down on the bed next to his daughter, "It's alright dear. You know your Mother means well. She just really wants to help you succeed."

Emma scoffed. She turned toward her father with tears glistening in her eyes. She shook her head, "Papi I'm not like her and Zelena. I'm not smart or beautiful like them. I hate Math and I'm no good at school. Why can't I just be left alone while I figure out what I want to do with my life?"

Henry pulled his daughter into his chest. He wrapped his arms around her and held her crooning softly to her. "There, there mijita. You are just as smart and beautiful as your Mother and sister. This isn't a contest. We all just want what's best for you."

Emma clung to her Father taking comfort in his arms even though she knew he was wrong. She'd never be able to reach the standards that had been set by her Mother and sister. And although she tried her best the stress of walking in their shoes weighed upon her.

"Can you just promise me one thing?" When Emma nodded, her Papi continued, "Just promise me that you'll try your best. It's all we're asking for. And I promise one day you're going to understand."

Emma didn't understand. And she knew that that one day would never come. She wasn't the one who couldn't get over her not being the smartest or most beautiful. She only wished her Mom could understand that.

RQ

"Regina, I'm going to need you to take your brother for a while," her Mother walked in with her baby brother Neal and deposited him right on Regina's lap.

"Mom! I have things to do," she held the baby out toward her as if he was a mess she didn't want to get near. "I'm studying."

Snow huffed and put her hand on her hip. "You study too much anyway. I also have things to do in order to keep this house running smoothly. You're not a guest here your Majesty. And as a part of this family that includes you helping out." She held up her hand to Regina's obvious next protest. "I have to run to the store and it'll be faster and easier without me having to drag your brother along. Anyway, the two of you need to spend time together. In fact, why don't you take him out for a walk?" she walked over and drew Regina's curtains back. "It's a beautiful day outside."

"Also," Snow gave her a sheepish expression as she filched Regina's car keys from the side table. Regina had worked two jobs all summer and squirreled away almost every penny to save up to buy the car. It was nothing but an old beat up yellow bug that had been old even before she was born but she loved it anyway. "My car's having problems. Your Dad won't be home until later to work on it so I'm going to need to borrow your car," Snow gave her a sheepish smile. Regna just rolled her eyes. That's how things always went in this house.

She looked at her children and smiled before leaning over and kissing each one of their unhappy faces. "I love you!" she called cheerfully as she walked out the room.

Regina stared at the little butterball who'd invaded her life almost a year before he was even born. Neal had been an unwelcome surprise. She preferred order to chaos. Something that was the total opposite of what a baby embodied.

It was bad enough he was the obvious proof that her parents had sex. But even before he'd been born Regina had already known her life was going to go to hell in a handbasket fast. And sure enough it had.

As much as she loved her family she fully understood that they were nothing alike. Her parents just didn't understand her at all. They were always harping on her about getting out and doing 'what all the other kids your age are doing'.

But that wasn't what Regina wanted. She had huge dreams and aspirations. She would leave this little stick in the mud town in the middle of nowheresville Maine. She wanted to be someone important. Someone that people took notice of. Someone whose name everyone already knew. She wanted to do important things and soak up everything there was to know.

Her parents were the complete opposite. They valued socializing to studying. They didn't have much because working wasn't high on their lists. Her Father was no bum and he had a job and all. But it was blue collar work that didn't provide for much. They lived in a small home that had two bedrooms if you counted her and Neal's shared space in the attic as a room. Her dad had been promising to install walls and make it two separate areas since they knew they were expecting but as usual nothing ever came of all the talking. He'd also been promising to install a bathroom just for her. Nothing ever came of that either. She was the only 15 year old she knew who was expected to share a room with a baby boy.

Regina didn't want this life. She wanted so much more. Freedom and choices that just weren't readily available to someone in their financial position. So she spent most of her time in the present preparing for a future she knew she was destined for. If only she could get there without having to bear the trappings of her parents.

Her brothers happy gurgling drew her out of her daydreams. She gasped as she noticed what he was doing. He'd managed to get ahold of her pen and had scribbled all over her homework.

"Grrrr," she growled as she grabbed her pen out of his hand. He looked at his empty hand confused as to why it was now empty then back up at her. He began to cry.

"Yeah, well now you know how I feel," she told him. When the cries continued she raised him to her shoulder and began to rock him. "It's not that serious. You'll be alright," she said to him softly as she began to walk him around the small room.

This so wasn't fair. It's not where she belonged. She looked all around her. But she didn't see the humble trappings of home around her. Instead she saw the greatness she was destined for. One day, she'd make it out of here. One day she'd find where she truly belonged.


	2. What?!??

**CHAPTER 2**

Regina hurried to school in a bad mood already. She’d had to wait for her parents to get out of the shower before she could jump in. She grumbled about her father still not working on the bathroom he’d promised her years ago but as usual it fell on deaf ears. Then, just as she was trying to grab something to eat, Neal decided that it was more fun to throw his breakfast on her instead of eating it. She’d sat there fuming and drenched in milk while he erupted into uncontrollable laughter. She’d had to get into the shower again to get the stickiness off of her before racing upstairs to try and find something clean to change into. Of course this would be the 2nd week they were behind in clean laundry too.

Now here she was racing through the hallways trying to make it to her locker and class before the last bell rang. The halls were already almost empty and she had only just gotten her locker opened when the bell rang. Regina squeezed her eyes tight in frustration. She growled under her breath as she got herself assembled. She hated being late.

She walked into the class quietly and tried to keep her head down as she made her way to her seat but of course she wasn’t allowed any breaks. Obviously the fates were out to get her.

“Glad you could join us Miss Nolan. I hope we’re not troubling you by holding class at a time that’s inconvenient to you,” Mr. Smokeman sneered.

Regina dropped her head and let her hair fall to cover her face. “Sorry,” she mumbled as she continued to make her way to her usual seat.

Her best friend Kathryn sat beside her. She gave her a sympathetic smile as Regina shuffled her books around, “Baby brother still at it?”

Regina rolled her eyes, “don’t ask.”

“Quiet!” Mr Smokeman slapped a ruler across his desk while glaring in her direction.

Regina’s face reddened as she slunk down in her seat as much as she could. God she hated her life. If she could she’d switch places with almost anyone right now.

MF

Emma Mills was on fire and she knew it. She was a total star. This was her space. And she owned it just like a Mills.

Emma would never be a scholar like her Mom and sister. She’d known this about herself her entire life. But when she played sports, she could release all her emotions against her opponents. And that’s why she was nicknamed The Beast to her foes and The Savior to her teammates.

This was their last time out. Her school team, the Stallions, were in the lead. But there was still room for the other team to come and steal their victory from their hands.

Emma glanced up at the bleachers. Her parents were there as usual. And her sister was making out with her boyfriend not far away from them.

For Zelena it was merely a way to spend time with Graham. For her father it was where he could cheer for his baby as loudly as he wanted. He was always her biggest supporter. He waved the video camera at her. He was also the family’s unofficial videographer and recorded almost every moment of them being conscious. Her dad was a dork. But she loved him dearly.

Her Mother had her eyes glued to her tablet. She would continue to do so until the last couple of minutes of the game. She always showed up to all Emma’s games. Even though she hated sports, she definitely loved winning. And being able to see her Mother’s face light up when she won made everything else worthwhile for Emma.

“You girls are out there playing like pansies. What are you all on your periods today or what?!??” the coach boomed at them. “This is our final game of the season. I don’t know about you all but I want to end it going out as champions. Now move it! Get me that trophy!”

“Yes Coach!” the girls on the team chorused.

Emma, as the team captain, motioned for her team to come in. “Okay now. They’re not that tough. We’ve got this. I’m not even going to waste my time talking your heads off about what we already know is true. Mulan, I expect you to have me like I have you.” Both girls nodded their acquiescence.

“Now Stallions on 3,” Emma boomed as she put her hand out. The other girls piled theirs on top of hers. “1-2-3 Stallions!” they all yelled together.

Emma and the girls took the field. The referee stood in-between the two teams looking back and forth. They were all covered in sweat and determination. Emma’s eyes never left the ball as the referee put it into play.

Mulan was the first to get the ball. She bounced it on her head then onto her knee before knocking it onto the ground and running toward the goal. Ariel ran ahead and Mulan kicked the ball over to her.

Ariel took the ball and dribbled it up ahead to the goal where Emma was already running to. A girl on the other team lunged but Ariel was able to kick the ball through her legs and over to Emma.

Emma’s heart was pounding as she wiped the sweat out of her eyes. It was like time stood still as she waited for the ball to get to her.

Emma spent hours practicing. For her, it was cathartic. She knew she wasn’t that smart. But she knew on when it came to sports she was a natural born athlete though where the inclination came she had no idea. No one else in her family played sports. Not if you didn’t count her Mom and Zelena horseback riding which Emma didn’t. If you weren’t getting down and dirty then you weren’t really playing was her motto.

She had been trying out this new move. But she had yet to use it in a game. She looked to either side and made sure she had room. She did. When the ball came to her, she took her shot. She jumped in the air into a back handspring and kicked the ball toward the goal.

When Emma got to the part of the handspring where she actually supposed to land on her hands she knew something was wrong. But she also knew her team was counting on her. She’d timed the move perfectly and was still able to get the kick off. But her arm ended up slipping from underneath her.

It had rained the night before and the slickness of the grass wasn’t something she was prepared for. Her body was already in motion and she’d already committed when her body fell on top of the top half of her body with all of her weight. Her arm was twisted underneath her.

Emma cried out but by this time the crowd was on their feet cheering and so were her teammates. They all rushed toward her. Emma knew she was in trouble already. Their eyes had been on the goal and not on her. They hadn’t seen her fall take a dangerous turn.

Emma heard the sickening snap as she fell. Her teammates immediately started dogpiling on top of her. It wasn’t until she started pounding whoever wherever wildly with her other fist that they realized her screams weren’t from joy but pain. She was writhing on the ground in obvious agony.

“Oww Em, what the hell?!?” Mulan exclaimed as she held her eye. Finally she really looked at her, “Em? Emma?!?” she screamed out. She turned to the other girls on the team, “Get her help now!” Mulan turned back to Emma, “It’s okay Em. We got you,” Mulan patted her shoulder as she checked Emma’s arm. It was hanging at a weird angle and Emma was trying to nurse it back while fighting back tears and screams.

The last thing Emma remembered before her eyes closed was her Mother’s face moving closer to her. Emma’s last thought was she had never seen her Mother look so beautiful before in her life.

MF

Emma came to sometime in the ambulance. “Mo - ?” she croaked groggily.

Her Mother immediately came into view. She smoothed back Emma’s hair as she held her hand. “It’s okay honey. I’m here. We’re going to get you all patched up,” she said while failing miserably to try and paint a smile on her face.

Emma was vaguely aware they were in an ambulance because she could hear the sirens blaring. Her eyes started to flutter again.

Cora turned to the driver, “Will you move this damned thing faster? My daughter is in pain.”

Emma chuckled sleepily. She knew her Mother was going to have someone’s job if they didn’t speed it up. Then she faded to black.

MF

Emma came to again as she was being rushed down a hallway. Faces passed by her in a blur as she heard her Mother cry out, “…and her blood type is AB negative.”

MF

The next time Emma awoke she was already lying in a room with her arm in a cast. “Wha – huh?”

Mother hurried over to the side of her bed, “shhh…. You’re fine dear,” she ran a hand up and down Emma’s shoulder. “The doctor assured us that it was a clean break and everything would be fine. You won’t even have to miss much school.”

Emma grimaced, “Great.” Leave it to her to screw up getting out of school.

Her Father was on the other side of her bed, “You were beautiful out mijita. You were definitely the Savior tonight,” her father tapped the camera. “And we can watch it all when you get back home.”

“Is there anything you need dear?” Cora asked with concern etched across her face.

It wasn’t often Emma was coddled. Her Mother believed in self-sufficiency. She knew she needed to take advantage while the opportunity lasted. “Well, I could use some fries and a milkshake.”

“Of course dear. Whatever you wish,” Cora turned to Zelena who was texting on her phone nonstop. To Graham Emma was sure. “Why don’t you go and get us all something to eat?”

Zelena scoffed, “I’m busy!” she held up her phone.

“We brought you that car so that you could help out with chores. Now your baby sister is hurt and we need to be here for her,” Cora reached into her purse and pulled out her pocketbook. She pulled some bills out from inside it. “I’ll have a chicken salad and your father will have a turkey club with no mayo and no fries.” Henry’s face took a downturn but Cora just ignored him.

Zelena narrowed her eyes at Emma before taking the money her Mother handed off to her and stomping from the room. Emma chuckled. Zelena waiting on her was another rare treat she knew she needed to savor. “Make that a chocolate chocolate chip shake, a large order of fries, a double cheeseburger, no mayo, with extra mustard and onions and everything else,” she called out before the door shut behind her. Emma lounged back with a grin on her face.

“How’s your arm my dearest?” Papi asked.

Emma glanced at her Mother, “Oh, um… yea… it hurts and all… owww.”

Cora nodded, “the doctor said it would take a few minutes for the pain meds to kick in.”

Emma didn’t bother to tell her they had already kicked in and she was feeling no pain at all. She was enjoying all this worrying and attention.

“Your teammates were here but we had to send them home,” Papi told her. “They did drop your stuff off though,” he pointed to a chair in the corner that held her gym bag.

“Cool,” Emma nodded. She and her father began to talk about the game as Cora went back to her tablet. With her Mother as Mayor of their small berg, work was never done. They had plenty of missed family outings, holidays, get-togethers, and vacations to prove it.

The night shift doctor doing rounds stopped by the room to check up on Emma. He had her try and flex her fingers just to make sure all her wires were still working. She must’ve aced it because he let the family know that after rounds in the morning, Emma would be free to go home.

Emma frowned. She was going to miss all this attention that was being heaped on her. But at least when she got back to school she had a cool story to tell everyone.

“Ahem,” the doctor cleared his throat. “Mr. and Mayor Mills, may I have a word with you outside please?”

Her parents looked at one another then followed the doctor out the door. Emma grabbed the remote and made herself comfortable in bed.

The doctor led them over to a small waiting room at the end of the corridor. He scratched his head, not really sure where or how to start this conversation, “Mayor Mills I’ve looked over Emma’s chart. It says that you told a nurse when you got here that Emma’s blood type was AB negative.”

“That’s right,” Cora nodded. “She has my blood in her veins. Emma, Zelena, and I are all AB negative.”

The doctor turned pale. He looked around nervously not sure how to proceed, “Ma’am I’m afraid that’s not correct. Emma’s blood type is A positive.”

“No,” Cora shook her head adamant. “You’re wrong. My husband is A negative. Maybe someone mixed things up.”

The doctor blanched. Now he knew it wasn’t a mistake. He ran his hands through his hair, “Ma’am I’m afraid to have to tell you this but we cross match everyone who comes in needing blood. And Emma is A positive.”

Cora’s face drained of all color. She squeezed her eyes shut as she concentrated on evening out her breathing.

“That can’t be right,” Henry jumped in. “That would mean that Emma can’t be our daughter. But she is!” Henry stood up and shouted, “She is!”

“That hospital!” Cora screeched. “Henry,” she grabbed at his coat, “I knew it! I told you that hospital couldn’t be trusted. But no, you just had to stop! We should’ve had our baby in a real place. And not some backwoods town in the middle of nowhere!”

Henry looked as though he’d been slapped. He slowly sat down and stared straight ahead as Cora began to sob.

“I’m really sorry to have had to tell you this,” the doctor said. “We have social workers here that can help in stressful situations.”

Henry waved the doctor away as he put an arm around his wife. Cora’s tears had dried and she was trying hard to place her Mayoral mask back on. She dried her face and nodded, “Thank you doctor. We have it from here,” Cora straightened out her dress and crossed her legs.

The doctor nodded and muttered an, “I’m sorry,” under his breath before heading out.

Just then Zelena walked by carrying bags of food but thankfully didn’t see them. Cora and Henry looked at one another. They took a moment to gather themselves and as if in unspoken agreement they both made their way back to their daughter’s room.

At the door of the room they stopped in the doorway. They watched as Emma tossed a fry at Zelena while the two teased and giggled between each other.

“Our entire lives just completely changed,” Cora whispered. She turned to her husband, “No matter what, nothing will ever be the same again.”

“We still have our girls. No matter what Emma will always be ours. We’ll make sure of it,” Henry nodded. The quiet strength in him that Cora had always admired in him coming forth.

Cora nodded even though she knew there was no turning back. Emma was theirs and yet she wasn’t at the same time. And somewhere out there their own little girl was lost to them. Lost and unknown.


	3. Who is she?

**CHAPTER 3**

The Mills’ family lawyer, August Booth’s face was red as he slipped an envelope to his white faced bosses.  He wasn’t in a habit of identifying with his clientele but this was different.  This was an egregious screw up at the hospital that had cost his clients their child.  And had done the same to some other poor unsuspecting family.

But August wasn’t just any lawyer in the firm.  He had been taken underwing by the great man himself.  He didn’t know what it was.  He had been a screwup all his life.  But after watching him in a court room where he had managed to successfully argue down his latest DUI case, Henry Mills had taken a shine to him. 

He’d sobered him up.  Gave him a purpose.  Let him know he was worth something in life.  He’d paid for his college and helped him pass the bar.  Then he’d given him a job in their law firm which was one of the most successful law firms in that part of the world.  And he’d made the man that no one expected anything of his protégé.  August would forever be grateful.  There was basically nothing he wouldn’t do for the Mills.  They were his family now.

He watched quietly as they opened it up and read the papers within.  August wasn’t ashamed to say that he had a certain look and way about him that charmed the ladies.  He’d managed to use it to his advantage to get information on another baby girl who'd been born at the same time as the Mills’ baby. 

“Is this a joke?” Cora asked as her eyes flashed dangerously.  “The woman who has my baby is named Snow?”

Henry Sr. patted her hand, “Dear, lets not get sidetracked.  What’s important is where do we go from here?”

They looked expectantly at August.  He merely shrugged, “that is up to you.  If you want to keep this quiet it’s fine.  No one knows anything yet.  It could stand that no one ever will.”

“But she’s ours,” Cora yelled.

“And Emma is theirs,” August pointed out.

Cora dropped her head in her hands.  She began to quietly weep.  Henry rubbed his wife’s back as he stared across and into the roaring fires of the fireplace.

Emma knocked quickly before sticking her head in, “Mom my friends are here.”  She’d already cleared it with her earlier that her team was going to be stopping by for a slumber party.  Which basically meant camping out in the den with snacks while coming up with wild things to do to quell their boredom from the burden of being 15.  “Hey Auggie,” she grinned at her favorite supposed adult as she leaned a little further into the room.

August grinned back at her.  The two had a time tested friendship.  Emma would often go to him before turning to her parents because August got her unlike they did.  He was basically a big brother to her.

Henry turned his body so that Cora would be hidden from his daughter’s view.  He fumbled in his back pocket for his wallet handing it over to his daughter, “Order whatever you’d like dear.”

“Plastic,” Emma grinned wider as she waggled her eyebrows as she looked through his wallet for his credit cards.  “Cool,” she left with a loud whoop to her friends.

With Emma gone, the adults began to sober up.  There were two little girls at stake here.  And both deserved the best that their parents had to give.

“Regina,” Cora breathed.

“Huh?” Henry turned to his wife.  Her tears had dried but he knew it wouldn’t be for long.  Though Cora was a woman who kept her emotions close to her, they’d been together for almost 20 years.  Henry knew that still waters ran deep.

“Our daughter’s name is Regina.”  She gave him a sad watery smile, “a name fit for a Queen.”

August cleared his throat, “if you want, I can do some more poking around while we give you two time to figure out what you’d like to do next.”

The Mills thanked him and he quickly made an exit.  He had just gotten onto his motorcycle when Emma stuck her head out the door, “Hey Auggs when ya gonna take me on that spin you’ve been promising.”

“Someday Ems.  I promise,” he said as he put his helmet on.

“Yeah, yeah,” she waved him away.  “By the time that day comes I’ll have my own motorcycle.”

August laughed, “like your parents would allow that.”

Emma sighed and hung her head.  “I guess it’ll just have to be our little secret,” she winked and waved her goodbyes.

August sadly watched her go back into the house.  Whatever happened he was a part of this family.  It would affect him too.

RQ

August Booth crossed the town lines into Storybrooke, ME a few days later.  He’d been glad when Henry had asked him if he could get more information on the daughter that they'd been cheated out of.  He was as curious as they all were about her.

He’d pulled into the inn which seemed to be the only place to rent a room for a few nights.  And he was fine with that.  It seemed clean and he was a simple man with simple needs.

He had just ordered some lunch at the diner which seemed to be where everyone hung out at when he saw her.  He knew right away who she was.  She looked a lot like her Mother.

He was staring as his waitress came over to drop off his meal.  She followed his gaze.  Ruby wore as little clothing as humanly possible so she was used to being stared at not ignored.  She pouted as she followed his steeled gaze, “that’s Regina.”

August came out of his trance, “excuse me?”

“Regina.  She works here part time.  And she does a lot of the cooking.  Her baking is the best.  Even Granny says so and she never compliments anyone’s cooking except her own.  But Regina’s a definite close second.”

August smiled, “well the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach.”

Ruby lowered her voice, “not always,” she said provocatively as she let her eyes wander down his body.  The man was gorgeous.  And his build was awesome.  Ruby’s flirting was normally harmless.  Unless the moon was in a particular phase.  Then all bets were off.  Plus they didn’t get too many visitors in this small town.  They weren’t on the path to anywhere.  They were barely even on the map.

“She mostly works in the kitchen.  She loves the cooking for some reason.  But occasionally she’ll helps out up front.  Plus we have to share our tips with the cooking staff.  So being generous to me is the same as being generous to her," Ruby hinted. 

August blushed.  He had wanted to play this a lot cooler.  But it seemed a small town coupled with almost no visitors left the people around with nothing better to do than worry about what everyone else was doing.  God he hated small town life.  He picked up his knife and fork and began to eat.  His face took on a shocked quality as the flavors from the lasagna burst in his mouth.  “Oh my god.  She made this?” At Ruby’s nod he was blown away, “This is incredible,” he couldn’t help himself.  He ordered another plate on the spot.

As an Italian boy, he knew Italian food.  He was a born skeptic and honestly even in New York, only his Father’s cooking could satisfy him.  Plus he was extremely tall with a large build.  He had a fast and healthy metabolism.  Henry had gotten him into working out to help with his temper and excess energy.  His body was built to handle carb overloads. 

But this was different.  The girl had a gift that was for sure.

He was surprised to see her walk over with his second plate.  He looked up into large, expressive brown eyes that made him think of her Mother. 

She had a beautiful smile that lit up her whole face, “I’m glad you’re enjoying my lasagna.”

“It is.  I’m an Italian boy from New York and I can honestly say this is the best I’ve ever had,” he grinned at her. 

Regina blushed and began to retreat.  “I’ll leave you alone now.”

He reached out and grabbed her hand, “No.  Please.  Sit.”

Regina looked down at his hand on her wrist.  She had no idea why but for some reason it didn’t irritate her like it would’ve had it been one of the males around the town.  Plus he was a tall, dark, handsome, mysterious stranger from a big city. 

She looked around at the diner crowd.  It was late and the rush was over.  Now it was just nosy townfolk lingering over coffees and gossip.  She smiled into blue eyes as she took a seat, “okay.”


	4. See What I Can See

**CHAPTER 4**

Emma couldn’t believe what she was hearing.  It had to be some joke.  It just couldn’t be true.  She was now thoroughly convinced that her parents had officially lost their minds.

She had noticed that they were changing lately.  They were together more and whispering more and more.  It had gotten so bad to the point where Zelena had even mentioned something about it.  When she wasn’t in the backseat of Graham’s car that is.

Whatever the secret was they were hiding between themselves Emma had already mentally been preparing herself for. But this – this was just nuts!

“What do you mean we’re going to Maine for vacation?  It’s in the middle of nowhere.  There’s nothing there!”  Emma screeched. 

Zelena nodded emphatically beside her, “you promised this was going to be a real family vacation.  I can’t tell people we went to Maine for a holiday.  My friends will never let me live that down.”

Cora and Henry ignored the girls’ theatrics, “we leave next week.  Make sure that you pack appropriately,” they said before leaving the room together.

Emma and Zelena both stared after them slack jawed.  “What the hell was that?!?” Emma turned to her big sister. 

Zelena frowned at her, “I thought you said they were going to get a divorce,” she punched her in the arm.

“Oww,” Emma nursed her arm before punching her back in the leg.  “I said they were sneaking around and whispering like my friends whose parents are divorced said their parents did before splitting up.  How in the hell did I know they wanted to vacation in the middle of nowhere?”

Zelena huffed, “I am never going to live this one down,” she shook her head sadly before dropping her face into her hands. 

Emma snorted, “Guess there goes your trophy as biggest loser.”

Zelena gave her another shot in the arm.  Then she got up and left the room.

Emma glared after her retreating figure.  Though this wasn’t exactly good news to her at least it wasn’t the divorce she was dreading.  She loved her Papi but felt loyal to her Mother.  She could never choose between them.  She didn’t really want to see her family broken up at all.  Though there were moments she’d be okay without Zelena around.  Then the two would make up and Emma couldn’t believe she’d thought such a thing. 

Be it what it was.  She loved her family.  And she was glad they still had some years together ahead of them.

RQ

Regina stared out the living room window as icy rain continued to pour down.  She loved inclement weather of any kind.  She wasn’t a sunshine type of girl.  Give her snow piling up while sitting in front of a fire with hot chocolate or rains pelting down that seemed to never have an end in sight any day.  Being bundled up inside while watching a good movie or just sitting around with the family while her parents talked about life before their old age set in was her idea of heaven.  Even under these circumstances.

She looked over at her baby brother.  For once he was actually asleep.  Her Mother had dumped him on her after she’d gotten home from her shift in the diner with news of meeting clients. 

She had worked as a teacher in the local school before getting pregnant.  But she and her Father had both decided they wanted her to stay at home to raise the baby.  So she’d dropped down to tutoring and the occasional substitute position while her Father worked at the town’s animal control center which didn’t pay much but he loved the animals.  And he was really good with them.  However, to help bring in more money Snow had gotten her real estate license. 

She’d just managed to snag some new clients who were interested in renting the White House for an extended period of time.  That’s what everyone called the mansion that had sat empty for years.  It was the biggest house in town.  With this being a predominantly blue collar working class town no one really had the money to invest in it.  So it just sat empty in its own little corner of the town.  With the commission, the family could get ahead on their bills for once.

So Regina had made herself some caramel popcorn, turned off her phone, popped in a scary movie, and curled up on the sofa thrilled by how quiet the house was.  This was a rare treat for herself that she wasn’t going to miss out on.

Her Father came home right as the movie ended.  He shrugged out of his mac and wellies while smiling over at her, “Hi Gigi,” he greeted her.

Regina groaned, “I’m too old for baby names Dad.  Save them for Chubs here,” she leaned over the portable crib that was kept downstairs and picked up her brother. She inspected his diaper and sure enough he was where that horrible smell was coming from.  “He needs a diaper,” she said hoping her Dad would spare her this one.

“I’m going to run and take a hot shower.  I’ll be right back in about 20 minutes,” he said before coming over to her and giving her and Neal kisses on their cheeks.

She wiped the raindrops off of her forehead, “could you please leave the outside outside next time?”

David laughed as he made his way to the bathroom.  Neal merely gurgled happily.

Regina rolled her eyes as she went up the stairs to take care of Neal’s diaper.  Once that was done she came back down and put him back in the crib.  She gave him some toys and started working on dinner. 

In her home, a lot of the meals were left up to her.  Though both her parents cooked, Regina excelled at it as she did most things.  It was her favorite chore that was never really a chore for her.  She loved being in the kitchen and creating new things just from piecing the odds and ends they had in the cabinets and fridge together. 

David came back down the stairs just as Regina sliced up the chocolate to add to the chili she’d just thrown together.  He picked up Neal and gave him a kiss before looking out the window with a frown, “Did Mom say when she was going to be back?”

“She said she wouldn’t be too long.  She just wanted to get the family settled in the inn and give them a little overview before she meets with them at the house tomorrow.  Hey Dad, don’t you think it’s odd that in two weeks we’ve had a new guy show up in town and now a family who just out of the blue wants to move here?”

“Stranger things have happened,” David shrugged as he blew raspberries onto Neal’s tummy. 

Regina brought over Neal’s dinner that she’d heated for him as she’d been cooking. It was some of her leftover split pea soup from last night though she’d cut up the ham chunks into baby sized pieces.  “Yeah but who in their right mind moves here on purpose?”  Though August had been really hot and had allowed for a lot of good gossiping between girls he’d started to weird Regina out.  It felt like his eyes were always on her.  And everytime they had a chance to talk he’d always keep the subject firmly on her and her family. 

David laughed, “Not everyone is as eager to get out of here as you are,” he said as he took the bowl she offered him and began to feed his son.  “This is actually a nice town if you’d give it a chance.”

“This town has had 15 years’ worth of chances from me.  And I’m done,” Regina went back to work cooking.  She mixed the sour cream for the chili with fresh lime juice.  She put it into the refrigerator as she took out the block of cheese.  She brought it and the grater over to the table and began to grate it for the chili.

David paused in feeding his son.  He took a long look at his little girl.  He knew that she was desperate to spread her wings.  She’d only been talking about it since she was old enough to know that the world was bigger than their backyard.  And he didn’t blame her for it at all.  Still he would miss her.  He reached across the table and stilled her hands, “You know no matter how old you get, you’ll still always be our little girl.  No matter how far you go our love will always be with you.”

Regina rolled her eyes and gave her Dad a little smile, “I know Dad,” she said in that teenage parents just don’t understand type of a way.  “I just think it’ll be nice to experience new things,” she shrugged.

David sighed.  This was the plight of every parent. You raised them only to let them go.  From the day they were born it seemed everything in between were just steps to take them farther from you.  “You know we’ll miss you.”

Regina looked at her Dad with red rimmed eyes.  “I know,” she said quietly.  The two shared a smile.  “I’ll miss you all too,” she said before she leaned over and kissed his cheek.   Aside from Neal’s baby talking a silence descended over the household as they both went back to the tasks at hand.

MF

Zelena and Emma had kept up a steady chorus of bitching and grumbling from the time their parents had told them of this disastrous plan all of the way until they pulled up into the town and realized their fates had already been sealed.  They knew there was no turning back once they reached the Welcome to Storybrooke sign.

They had eventually settled into their laptops, cell phones, and music as the miles between home and this dump passed away.  They’d stopped overnight once they got to Boston but then their Papi ushered them quickly into the car after breakfast to get back on the road.  As if it made any difference.  They’d only ended up driving right into a storm. 

They each stared out their windows as they looked around at what looked like the deadest town in the world still praying that it wasn’t so.  That was until the GPS let them know that they had reached their destination. 

“No way,”’ Emma breathed as she took in what appeared to be a bed and breakfast that looked smaller than her closet.  She reached beneath her cast trying to get at an itch that seemed to have taken residence underneath it.

“Papi,” Zelena sneezed.  “I think I’m allergic to this town.  We need to go back home now.”

Cora rolled her eyes while ignoring both girls.  She looked over her shoulder at them, “You know I’m actually loving this idea more and more.  I hadn’t realized how spoiled you two had become.”

Both girls scoffed and crossed their arms over their chests.  They wore identical frowns on their faces.

“I’ll run in and grab the keys, my dear,” Henry said before he jumped out of the car and made a mad dash for the entrance.  He came out a few minutes later carrying an umbrella.  A girl in what could only be deemed hooker wear with long dark hair with red stripes running down it followed him with another one. He opened Cora’s door, “Come my dear.  I’ll get the bags later.”  He helped his wife climb out and then began to walk her into the inn.

The girl grinned and waved before opening the back door.  Zelena and Emma exchanged slightly horrified yet resigned looks before climbing out and gathering underneath the umbrella she offered the two of them. 

“Hi, I’m Ruby,” she greeted them with a warm welcoming smile once they’d gathered just inside the door of the inn.  “My Granny,” she gestured to the old woman behind the desks with the spectacles on the edge of her nose, “and I run this place.  And the diner across the street.”

Zelena stepped back but Emma stepped up and shook the girl’s hand.  “I’m Emma and that’s Zelena,” she hooked her thumb over at her sister who’d wandered over to where her parents stood.  “Don’t mind her, she’s a witch with a capital B.  I’m pretty sure she’s adopted,” she told the girl making the frown she had on her face as she watched Zelena turn away into a nice throaty laugh.

She shrugged and shook her head, “So I see you all are from New York.  What brings you here to our little big town?  I mean – this place isn’t exactly somewhere one would choose as a vacation spot or anything.”

Emma sighed and hung her head, “Don’t I know it.  You can blame it on the ‘rents,” again she hooked her thumb over her shoulder as she pointed to her parents. 

“Emma, come along dear,” Mother called as Henry gave her a quick peck before heading out to the car for their bags. 

“See ya,” Emma waved to her new friend.  She adjusted her crutches and headed after her Mother and sister. 

They followed her up the stairs until they came to their rooms.  Cora unlocked the first door and walked in to inspect it.  The girls followed their Mother at a slower less enthused pace.  “Well, at least it’s clean,” Cora said after pulling back the blankets on the bed and checking the sheets.  She poked her head into the bathroom.  She handed the spare key over to Zelena.

“And it’s a room.  That’s about it,” Zelena sneered.

A knock sounded behind them making them all jump.  They turned to see a petite brunette woman smiling at them from the doorway. 

“Hi,” she waved happily at them.  She looked at all 3 of them before settling on Cora, “I’m Snow,” she walked further into the room and offered her hand.  “I’m going to be showing you all to the White House tomorrow.”

Cora caught herself staring at the woman who was her daughter’s Mother.  She gathered her composure and reached out to shake the woman’s hand, “I’m Cora Mills.  These are my daughters Emma and Zelena.  And this is my husband Henry,” she said as Henry came huffing into the room weighed down by the luggage. 

Henry put the luggage he’d been carrying down coming to give the woman a handshake also. 

“What a lovely family,” Snow gushed.  “I also have two children.  Regina’s about your age,” she gestured to Emma and Zelena.  “But our little Neal was a last minute gift from up above.  He’s just starting to get the hang of crawling,” she gave a small laugh.

Cora couldn’t believe that this was the woman who was raising her daughter.  On the one hand she wanted to hear more.  On the other she wanted to wrap Emma up and take her far, far away from this place.  But her curiosity about her child had won out.  And she and Henry had agreed that they wanted a chance to at least meet the child and see for themselves that she was in a good home before taking the next step whatever that may be.

“Well, I won’t keep you,” Snow told the small family after an awkward pause.  “I just wanted to introduce myself and say welcome to our little berg.  Oh, and to give you this,” she passed a folder over to Cora.  “It’s just a few odds and ends about our town I thought you’d find interesting.  There’s a map to show you where everything is.  I’ll see you all tomorrow at the White House.”  She threw a wave over her shoulder as she walked out the door.

Emma took the folder from her Mother’s hand.  She pulled out the map.  Even the map of her high school that she’d been given on her first day was two pages.  This entire town fit on less than one.  She turned to her parents, “seriously?  Please tell me that this is a joke because I can’t think of anything I’ve done to deserve this.”

“Stop being so dramatic,” Cora snapped.  “Your Father and I are going to take a nap.  We can get some dinner later.  If you two are going out to explore then make sure you stay together and check in with us before you leave and every 30 minutes after you’re gone.  Come along Henry,” Cora left the room and headed for the one she’d share with her husband.

Henry gave both his daughters a kiss upon their cheeks before grabbing the bags that belonged to him and Cora.  “We’ll see you later mijitas.”

Zelena and Emma just stared after the two of them.  Zelena sighed and grabbed a couple of her bags.  “I’m taking this bed,” she said before throwing her body onto the mattress. 

Emma spent the rest of the afternoon flipping through the tv channels before settling on a scary movie.  She’d seen it tons of times before but hey Scream was a classic.  She took off her shoes and got comfortable.  With the movie playing in the background and her sister’s even breathing she was quickly lulled into sleep.


	5. Can't Take My Eyes off of You

**CHAPTER 5**

Cora quickly walked into the room she was sharing with her husband and dropped down onto the bed.  Henry came behind her huffing and puffing away as he lugged the luggage into the room.  He dropped the bags onto the floor before taking a seat on the desk chair to catch his breath.

“She looks like her,” Cora said as if from far away.

“Huh?” Henry puffed out.

“Emma – that woman – she looks like our daughter,” Cora’s voice caught on a sob as her eyes began to fill with tears.

Henry immediately got up and went to his wife’s side.  He took her into his arms and held her close, “It’s going to be alright dear.  No matter what happens next Emma will always be ours.”

“You can’t promise that,” Cora shrieked.  She brought her hand up to her mouth to try and stifle back her wails, “What if they try and take her from us?  What if they won’t let us see our daughter?”  Cora continued to cry before a new thought had her turning to her husband with a frantic expression, “What if she doesn’t want to know us?”

Henry shook his head, “You’re getting way too far ahead of yourself dear.  We only just got here,” he rose and went over to where Cora had dropped her purse.  He went through it and pulled out a recently filled new prescription. 

This entire situation weighed so heavily down on all of them.  The thought of her having a child outside of her reach had turned his normally strong, confident wife into a mess.  She was having a really hard time with coping.  She’d even begun to have panic attacks.  So the doctor had prescribed her something to help her relax with her anxiety.  Thankfully, so far, the girls were still oblivious to the situation.

He poured one of the pills into his palm.  Then he went into the bathroom to get her some water.  He came out and handed both to his wife. 

Cora stared at it hating herself for her weakness.  She had three daughters who needed her to be strong for them.  This vacation hadn’t been so much a holiday to look forward to as a command by her doctor to do anything to alleviate her stressors before she ended up in the hospital.  So she and Henry had discussed back and forth between themselves until they both agreed that they had to at least see for themselves what had become of their child before making any further decisions.    

August’s reports of her had been sparse.  She was beautiful, smart, and apparently a world class chef in the kitchen.  She was even set to graduate a year earlier than she was supposed to.  She had friends but tended to prefer her own company to others.  She was healthy and seemed content.  She wasn’t abused and apparently had lived an average life.  Her parents were a normal working class family. 

This was all well and good.  But they needed more.  They wanted to know their child.  And hopefully build a relationship with her.

Cora laid back as the pills began to take effect.  Her last thoughts were wondering what came next.

MF

“…and this – this is your kitchen,” the petite brunette spun around as if it was the Taj Mahal.

They had been told that this house was the biggest house in town.  As far as the Mills were concerned it was nothing more than average. 

Cora flicked her wrist, “we’ll take it,” she said abruptly just wanting the dizzy sensation that she got from being around the woman gone.  She flittered around like a fly never settling in one place too long.  She seemed like the type of woman who whistled along with birds as she woke up and went about her day.  The woman’s cheeriness was a drain on her energy.  Cora had no idea how her child survived 15 years with her but she knew she wouldn’t be able to take 15 minutes longer without losing her mind.

Snow turned to the woman with a look of total shock, “but I have so much more to show you!”

“You’ve already said this is the biggest and most modern place you have in this town correct?”  At the nodding of her head, she pressed on, “if this is the best that you have we’ll take it.  My husband will take care of the paperwork and I will have a look around.”

Snow grinned happily and looked like she was about to step over and hug her.  Cora quickly backed up out of her reach and spun around.  She went in search of her daughters.

She found them arguing in front of the television over who gets the remote first.  She stood in front of the tv, “don’t you girls want to have a look around at our new home?”

“I can see from here that it’s a dump,” Zelena put her feet up on the coffee table.

“I second that,” Emma joined her sister in lying back against the world’s ugliest sofa and propping up her feet.  She crossed her arms over her body and rested her head on the back cushion.

Cora looked around, “it has its charms.  And we’re all going to work together to make it a home.”

The girls snorted.  “Could you please?” Zelena gestured for Cora to move while she craned her neck sideways.

Cora turned toward the telly and turned it off.  Both girls immediately groaned aloud.  She turned back toward them.  “Whether you like it or not this is going to be our home for a while.  I’d suggest you get used to it.  Now go upstairs and see what needs to be done in your rooms,” she looked around the house.  “I suspect everything,” she said quietly to herself.

“Wait, what do you mean our home?  We’re not selling our other houses are we?” Emma asked as she stood and collected her crutches.  She and Zelena exchanged agitated expressions.

“No dear,” Cora immediately softened her voice to calm the girls.  “But it makes sense with the amount of time that we’re planning on being here to have a home base instead of living out of suitcases.  Now go!” Cora pointed toward the stairs.

Zelena and Emma kept up their grumbling all of the way up the stairs.  They weren’t too happy to hear that they would be spending a lot of time in this dump.  They figured this was a mid-life crisis thing or something that their parents needed to get out of their systems before they went back to their normal lives. 

Cora went through her purse and pulled out her tablet.  She immediately began jotting down the things that it would take to make this place livable up to their standards.

It was almost an hour later before Henry and Snow rejoined her.  In that time she had managed to decide what was going and what was staying and she’d made a list of to-do’s for herself and the rest of the family. 

“I’m so glad you’re taking this house.  I promise you, your family will be happy here.  It’s a great place to raise kids,” Snow gushed as they came into the room.

Cora gave her a tight smile, “I’m sure.”

Snow stood awkwardly looking back and forth between them before clapping her hands loudly slightly startling the couple, “Your paperwork for renting the house is already complete so,” she dug into her purse and handed them over two sets of keys.  “Here you are.  You’ll be renters until the sale goes through.  In the meantime, I hope you two enjoy!”

“Thank you.  We will.  Have a nice day,” Cora called after her as she began to make her way toward the door.  “Henry will see you out,” she turned toward her husband.

“Yes, dear,” he said like a man who was using to repeating that phrase frequently.  He walked behind the woman and gently shut the door behind them.

Cora heard scurrying on the stairwell and knew it was her daughter before she even saw her.  Despite years of ballet and dance Emma tended to have the grace of an elephant.  You normally heard her coming long before actually seeing her, “Mom, I’m hungry,” she declared as she came down the marble staircase in the center of the house.

“I know dear,” Cora smiled at her youngest.  Emma’s belly was a legendary never ending pit.  It had been barely 4 hours since their last meal, “We just need to stop at the hotel and collect our things and then we’ll get right onto that,” Cora pulled Emma into her arms once she reached her.  She kissed her on her cheek. 

Emma hummed as her cuddling instincts took over.  She immediately leaned into her Mom.  It wasn’t often that her Mother gave in to open shows of affection.   But she’d take it when it was offered.

Cora pulled away slightly, “You’re getting so big.  You’re even taller than I am now,” she frowned slightly at her daughter who had to slouch over to put the two of them on even ground.

Emma chuckled, “Zelena’s taller than I am.”

Cora nodded, “that she is.  But you’re my baby.  You’re supposed to stay little forever,” Cora held her tighter. 

Emma was touched.  Her Mother wasn’t the sentimental touchy feely kind of person.  She normally kept her emotions close to her.  But lately she had been more open than Emma could ever remember.  Even as a small child.  Not that she was complaining or anything.  She just figured her accident must’ve hit her hard, “I still have to grow my wings and fly Mom.  But I’ll always be your baby,” she nuzzled closer to her Mom.

CF

Regina heard her Mother’s squeals all of the way from downstairs.  In this house, that was unfortunately normal behavior for her.  She immediately turned her stereo on and cranked the volume up.

For once her Father was actually taking care of Neal instead of dumping him onto her once her Mother disappeared.  This, for her, was the closest to freedom she had. 

She sat on the edge of her bed and sorted through the latest ‘charity box’.  One way they saved on clothing was from taking hand-me-down’s from Kathryn and her family.  Her family was considered part of Storybrooke’s one percent and she had a Father who doted on her.  Suffice it to say, she was usually decked out in the latest fashions.  It embarrassed Regina to no end but her parents insisted it was just good sense to accept them.

Over the years she’d become adept at sewing.  Her parents had managed to get her a sewing machine one year and that made her life a little easier.  She would take apart the items she’d been ‘gifted’ and turn them into her own.  That meant she got the designer labels and fabric but she didn’t have to be humiliated about her clothing’s origin.  The secret of where they came from was one of the many acts of loyalty from Kathryn that had allowed the two to forge a forever friendship.

“Regina!” she heard her Mom bounding up the stairs.  Seconds later hurricane Snow exploded into her room.  “What are you doing sweetheart?”

Regina rolled her eyes, “Inventing the cure for cancer,” she deadpanned as she continued riffling through the box.

Snow jumped onto her bed with a happy squeal.  Regina watched her suspiciously as she dumped more clothing into the unsalvageable pile.  Those were the items she absolutely could do nothing with.  She didn’t bother to ask what was going on.  Everyone knew Snow couldn’t keep a secret.

Regina thought her Mother looked like a child instead of the parent that she needed as she beamed away at her daughter.  She had always felt as if she were more of an adult than both of her parents put together.  It wasn’t exactly the most comforting thought for someone who actually was a child. 

“So - ?,” Snow prompted.

Regina quirked an eyebrow and waited patiently.  She was also unfortunately the only one in the family with an ounce of willpower.

“I sold the White House!” Snow squealed excited as she bounced on the bed.

“That’s great Mom!” Regina smiled at her Mother.  

The White House was the biggest house in town.  It had been empty for as long as Regina could remember.  It tended to be a place that the kids in town had a habit of using to create haunted house stories about and the teens broke into to use for partying. 

“My commission isn’t quite in yet.  But,” Snow reached across and ran her hand through her daughter’s long dark hair.  “I was thinking,” Regina’s eyebrows shot up at that but Snow ignored her as she tended to do way too often.  “maybe we can take a shopping trip out to Boston.”

Now it was Regina’s turn to squeal, “Really?”  She pushed the box aside and launched herself at her Mom.  She wrapped her arms around her waist as she burrowed into her side.

Snow pulled Regina’s head down onto her shoulder.  She laid a kiss upon the top of it.  “I told you, good things always happen to good people.  And now we’ve been blessed.”

She pulled away from her daughter and looked into the chocolate eyes that caused her to melt inside, “you’re so gorgeous,” she cooed as she brushed her hair behind her ears.  Her hands slipped down her shoulders and she wrapped her fingers around her upper arms as Regina’s cheeks began to turn pink.  Her parents were the mushiest people she knew.  Usually it was reserved for themselves and Neal. She had always felt like the black sheep of the family.  It wasn’t often she got their undivided attention, “I know things haven’t been easy.  And I know everyday seems like another sacrifice.  But we really do want the best for you sweetie. I’m sorry we haven’t been able to give you the things that you deserve.”

Regina’s vision blurred as her tears began to pebble in her eyes.  She rapidly blinked them away.  She prided herself on her self-control.  “It’s fine Mom,” she shrugged as she began to back out of her Mom’s arms.

Snow took ahold of her and pulled her close to her side again, “No it’s not.  It’s just the way that it’s been.  But with this commission, things will be better.  That I promise you.”

Regina relaxed back into her Mother’s side.  Her parents had spent her entire life espousing about hope and true love being all that you needed to live happily ever after.  She had learned to tune them out after having their car repossessed for the third time during one her Father’s dry spells with steady work.  She wasn’t sure why but lately a lot of things had been changing around their town.  For the first time, she actually shared her parents’ enthusiasm that brighter tomorrows were just around the corner.  And for some reason, that scared her more than anything else.

MF

The family sat waiting for their meal at Granny’s as they planned the next steps of getting their new house up to their standards.  The inspectors were coming out tomorrow and they would be able to give them an assessment of the house’s structure.  From there, all that was left was the decorating.

“We also need to find a pediatrician for you two,” she pointed at both girls as they waited impatiently for their order to come.

“Pediatrician?  Seriously Mom?  I think we’re old enough to just have regular doctors now,” Zelena used her straw to spear a strawberry in her lemonade. 

“I’ll let the doctor be the judge of that, thank you dear,” Cora replied dryly. She added a packet of Splenda and a packet of sugar to her iced tea before stirring it.

Emma snorted, “this town probably only has the one doctor in it anyway.”  She and Zelena shared a laugh.

“I’ve found this town to be quite lovely.  The realtor’s said repeatedly that it’s a great place to raise children,” Papi threw into the conversation.  “It can be a good opportunity for you girls to experience what life is like for people who aren’t as blessed as you are.  You know, when I was a kid - ,” he began. 

Both girls rolled their eyes knowing they were about to get another earful about how his parents struggled when they came to this country.  Abuela cleaned houses and sold tamales and other foods native to their country out of the house before she was able to upgrade to a food truck.  Abuelo started out as a dishwasher.  He had to work suppressing his accent in order to move up the ranks and be allowed to work in the front of the restaurant.  Eventually they were able to open the first of many chain restaurants which still provided their children comforts they themselves had never grown up with.  They both slaved and sacrificed to ensure that their little Enrique, which was Spanish for Henry, and his 6 brothers could live a prosperous life in the new country they called home.

“There she is.  That weird lady who sold us the house,” Zelena used her straw to point to where the realtor had just walked in.

Cora looked up and ended up doing a double take as her eyes landed on the people who had accompanied her.  Her heart began to beat faster and her breathing came out in small rapid puffs as she took in the sight of her daughter for the first time.  She grabbed ahold of her husband’s shirt sleeve, “Henry,” she cried out in a strangled voice.  She began to crush her husband’s sleeve in a grip so tight that her knuckles became white. 

Henry merely nodded his head as he too found it impossible to look away from the lovely girl who was so clearly theirs.    He was certain he would’ve recognized her anywhere.  She had his Mother’s eyes.  He swallowed thickly as his own heart and breathing sped up to match his wife’s.  His arm absently went around his wife’s shoulders and the two clung to one another as they watched their girl and her family walk closer towards them.


	6. The Reveal

**CHAPTER 6**

“Mom, are you okay?  You look like you’ve seen a ghost,” Emma asked.  She and her sister exchanged shocked and somewhat embarrassed looks as they took in their parents’ irrational behavior.

Neither could answer their daughters.  They were both too choked up to get a word out. 

Cora watched as the insipid realtor waved and grinned in their direction.  She turned to her family who then all turned toward them. As if the moment were running in slow motion she watched as the small family made its way over to their table. 

“Well hello there,” Snow gushed.  She turned to her husband, “honey this is the family that I was telling you about. They just bought the White House.”  Snow tapped her chin with her finger, “now let me see if I’ve got it right.”  She began to point out each member of the Mills household, “that’s Henry and Cora Mills.  And these are their lovely girls, Zelena and Emma.”

Cora swallowed the lump in her throat and licked her lips nervously.  Snow continued as if there was absolutely nothing wrong.  “And this here is my very own Prince Charming,” she threaded her arm through her husbands as she smiled up at him.  “His name’s David and this little one is Neal,” she grabbed Neal’s hand from where he sat perched on his sister’s hip and kissed it.  “And this,” she flourished, “is our beautiful daughter Regina.”

David leaned across his wife and offered his hand, “welcome to our humble big little town.”

Henry nodded and stood from his seat.  He gave him a friendly smile even as his eyes kept drifting to his daughter, “Thank you.  Thank you.  I grew up in a small town much like this one.  I was just telling our girls that smalls towns like this actually have a lot more to offer than what they can see driving past in a car.”

Snow nodded vigorously, “it sure does.”  She looked between Regina and the new town resident’s daughters, “actually I’m sure Regina here wouldn’t mind giving them a tour of the place.  Since they’re all around the same age it would be really nice for your girls to already have a friend here.” 

Regina’s eyes bulged before her jaw set.  “Awesome Mom.”  She knew pointing out that she’d never volunteered for this was a useless exercise when it came to her Mother.  So she settled for turning up her nose and feigning disinterest in the situation.

Snow continued unfazed, “From a teen’s point of view I mean,” she giggled.  “There’s always hot spots that the parent’s aren’t privy to,” she whispered conspiratorially to Henry. 

Henry and Cora exchanged a look.  As if by some unspoken agreement Cora stood and faced the Nolan family, “Actually, we were meaning to give you a call.  We wanted to extend an invitation to you and your husband to come out and have lunch with us one day soon.  As a thank you for the house,” she forced a smile upon her face.

Snow beamed, “why of course!  We’d love that!” she preened at her husband.  “Well, we’ll let you get back to your meal.  It was great seeing you again.  And I really hope you enjoy your new home,” she and her family took their leave of the situation just as the waitress came over with the Mills’ family dinner. 

The waitress placed their meal in front of them and after checking if there was anything more they needed she walked away.  The girls instantly dug into their meals.  But their parents had lost their appetite.

“They seem like a really nice family,” Henry offered to his wife as she continued to stare across the room at their daughter.

“Still - ,” Cora answered.  “They’re not us.”

MF

“They’re here,” Henry called out to his wife as he watched the car pull up to the curb in front of their home.

Cora rose and stood there nervously fiddling with her hands.  She was perfectly at home on a stage in front of a crowd full of strangers at one of her political functions but this was different.  This was personal.  Today would change the lives of so many people. 

It had been two weeks since the family had moved in. Cora and the girls had spent the past couple of weeks getting the house up to standards that they could live with.  They’d driven to the next town over and gotten another car so that they wouldn’t be trapped with the one.  And they’d gone furniture and clothing shopping a few times over.  The girls had insisted after seeing how the locals dressed that fashion they normally wore just wasn’t something that anyone in this small working class town even understood.

Aside from that, the family had kept mostly to themselves.  They occasionally went out on drives exploring this town and the neighboring ones.  The girls would take one of the cars at night and get up to God only knew what shenanigans.  But they hadn’t complained for quite some time about being stuck here though they did still make the odd comment about the local hicks and the pokey town.

Henry watched as David helped his wife out of their beat up old truck before reaching back in and handing his wife a covered dish.  He closed the door and placed his hand in the small of her back as they walked down the walkway to the house.

“They seem like really nice people,” Henry observed as he continued to watch them make their way to the door.

The bell rang and for a few minutes neither said a word.  They just stood there staring at it as if it were a three headed monster.  At the second ring, Henry shook his head as he collected himself and began to move toward it.  He placed his hand on the handle while looking over at his wife’s pale, drawn face.  Then he took a deep breath and opened the door.

“Hello!” Snow gushed at him before walking inside. David smiled at him and nodded before he closed the door behind himself.

Henry nodded his head at her and then her husband. 

An awkward silence fell over the room as the Nolan’s smiles began to turn to confused and wary glances as their hosts just stood there staring at them.  Snow gave her husband a look which showed their confusion at being greeted so morosely by their hosts.  She glanced down at her hands and finally remembered the covered dessert she carried.  She plastered another smile on her face as she moved toward Cora, “our daughter is a budding young chef.  She’s been trying out all these new recipes.  She made a dessert when she heard we were coming over for lunch.  I think it’s a French thing.  She called it a dakwoir or something.”

“Dacquoise,” David supplied.  “It’s supposed to be a super complicated cake to make.  But our little girl is definitely pure talent.  I’m sure it’s as delicious as it looks.”

Cora finally conquered her nerves and gathered herself.  She plastered a smile on her face and accepted the outstretched dish, “Then I’m sure it will be.”  She placed the plate down on the brand new coffee table that had been delivered a few days ago before turning to her guests.

“Would you two like something to drink?  Henry will play bartender won’t you dear?” she turned to her husband.

This time Henry had to shake himself, “Oh yes, yes of course.  What could I get for you two?”

David’s eyebrows lifted, “I wouldn’t say no to a nice cold beer right now.  It’s been so hot out lately that anything would be great.”

“Great,” Henry walked over to the bar and opened a small fridge underneath.  He took our two long necks and two chilled beer mugs.  He opened the bottles and handed David his before taking one for himself.  He handed him a coaster and a napkin before grabbing his and making his way over to the sofa. 

Cora nodded, “I made some lavender lemonade if you’d like?” she asked Snow as she pointed to the pitcher in the corner.  Snow nodded and Cora began to pour them both two tall glasses.

The couples took their drinks over to the sofa.  Henry and Cora faced their guests, Snow and David, who occupied the sofa across from them.

Snow looked around the room, “I love what you’ve done with the place.”

Cora nodded, “thank you.”

Another awkward silence fell over the room.  Cora and Henry seemed embroiled in a heated silent discussion between the two of them.  The began to get the feeling that they had walked in on something personal.

“I’m sorry,” Snow finally said awkwardly.  “Did we come at a bad time?”

Cora looked over at the couple before placing her glass of lemonade down on the table.  She took a deep breath before starting, “No.  You haven’t.  The truth is that there just is no easy way of saying this.  There wasn’t one when we learned about it anyway.”

She moistened her lips before looking at the perplexed looks on their guests’ faces.  She and Henry had decided after seeing their daughter at the diner that they had to have this out.  They couldn’t be this close to her and not be able to reach out to her and have her know who they were. 

She cleared her throat and after another look at her husband she began, “the truth is this isn’t our first time in this town.  The first was more than 15 years ago.  The night our youngest daughter was born.”  She took a breath but it ended up becoming a choked sob.  She raised her hand to her cover her mouth as if to force it back even as tears sprang to her eyes, “sor-ry,” she told the new couple in a broken voice.

Henry leaned over and took his wife hand.  Then he looked at the Nolan’s, “does the date October 31st mean anything to you two?”

Snow broke out in a smile, “Regina’s birthday!”  She gasped, “You were here too?  We must’ve just missed one another in the maternity ward,” she chuckled.  She turned to her husband as the two smiled remembering that day.  They had never expected to have children.  Snow wasn’t supposed to be able to conceive due to a childhood illness.  They had just gotten together not long before she became pregnant.  It had been a joyous surprise for the both of them.  Her pregnancy brought them closer than they thought possible.

“If you recall there was a huge storm that night.  The electricity had gone out and there was nothing but chaos in the hospital,” Henry reminded them.  “Our intention was to continue driving but the baby had her own plans.  We had no choice but to pull over and find the nearest hospital here in town.”

“I remember,” David answered.  He loved his ugly old truck.  But it wasn’t the most reliable and it had chosen one of the most important nights of his life to act up.  He was becoming frustrated that nothing he knew to try to get it started worked.  He had become so upset he was seriously thinking about just picking Snow up and carrying her to the hospital when he finally got the damned thing to turn over.  He had been so relieved.  He had been sweating buckets at the thought of having their baby on the side of the road.

There had been a huge storm that night.  It had come through hard and fast.  When they’d arrived at the hospital it was nothing but chaos.  A lot of people had been caught up and gotten hurt in accidents on the streets.  The beds at the hospital were all filled to capacity.  And the doctors and nurses had ended up stuck inside the hospital after putting in 24 to 48 hours already. 

Giving birth in those circumstances had been no picnic.  But they’d made it through.  And afterward they’d gotten the most beautiful and delightful baby girl to bring home.  And a great story that they could tell of their survival and hers for the rest of their lives.

“Except there was a problem,” Cora said quietly.  “We only just found out about this recently ourselves.  Emma had her accident with her leg.  And while we were there we found out some deve- some devastating news,” her voice broke on another sob.  Except this time she couldn’t stop the tears that began to flow down her cheeks. 

The Nolans stared at the family in dread.  They had no idea what was about to come.  But they knew it wouldn’t be good.  They both wrapped their arms around one another waiting for the other shoe to drop. 

Henry threw his arm around his wife.  She lowered her head to his shoulder and began to cry softly.  He swallowed thickly before looking back at their guests.  He saw from their faces that they understood something that wasn’t good was headed their way.  He forced the words from his choked up throat, “That night, we had our daughter in that hospital.  And sometime along the way, we ended up taking the wrong child home with us.”

The Nolan’s shock registered on their faces as the pieces began to fall into place.  David sat up and leaned toward the couple, “You can’t be serious!” he shouted.  “This doesn’t happen!” he stood and began to pace the room.  He ran his hands through his hair before looking at his shocked wife.

Snow had remained seated.  Her face looked as pale as her namesake.  She wasn’t speaking or moving.  She looked across at the devastated couple and for some reason she knew.  She knew in that moment that it was true.  They had each left the hospital that night with their brand new bundles of joy wrapped in their arms.  Except the daughter they’d each lain claim too wasn’t theirs to keep.

They had each left the hospital that night with someone else’s daughter.


	7. Now You Know

**CHAPTER 7**

For once since coming to this dump, Emma and Zelena had an awesome time out.  So by the time they got home, they were on cloud 9. 

Their parents had sent them out earlier saying that they had friends coming over and it would be best for the girls to be out of the way while they spoke about grown-up things.  Papi handed them over a handful of cash and the car keys.  He’d told them to not be home too late but that they needed a grown-up day and so they didn’t have to rush home either. 

The girls took this to mean that they were probably going to get drunk and have sex.  And obviously having them around was cramping their parent’s style.  They had both laughed and joked about it as they drove down to Granny’s diner– which was the only place to hang out at – that they’d more than likely find them passed out and naked by the time they got back.

Their parents weren’t heavy drinkers but they had seen them both intoxicated a time or ten. Papi – who was usually a mouse of a man – would get really loud and tell the most hilarious jokes.  And Mother surprisingly got quiet when she drank.  Her face would become really sad and she’d withdraw from everyone.  It kinda scared them a little. 

They knew that she’d had a hard life.  She’d been responsible for taking care of her family at a young age after she’d lost her Mother.  She’d had to put herself through college and worked really hard to get all that she’d achieved in her life.  But thankfully her being drunk happened so rarely that it was never cause for serious alarm.

After having lunch together at the diner, they’d ended up going over to the only theatre in town.  The movie was one they’d gone to the premiere of back in NYC.  But they suffered through it anyway because at least the inside ac was a welcome break from the heat wave they’d been having. 

After leaving the movies, they’d gone back to the diner for shakes and fries.  That’s when Ruby had invited them over to her Granny’s since her shift was done and Granny’s had just started.  That meant they’d have the place to themselves for a while. 

They’d stopped by the store first and picked up a few snacks before heading back to her place.  Somewhere along the way Ruby floated the idea of introducing them to the rest of the kids in town.  This led to Ruby calling over a few of her friends.  Who all in turn had called over a few of their friends which made it more than a meet and greet.  It had officially turned into a shindig.  The impromptu party that followed had been really fun until Emma noticed that it was getting late.  She’d had to pry her sister off of some ratchet guy’s lips to get her out the door.

When they got home, they were surprised to find their parents sitting in the now darkened living room.  They both looked like they’d been crying and the atmosphere was really tense.  Henry had his arms wrapped around his wife’s shoulders and she had her head buried in his chest.  Zelena and Emma stood awkwardly in the doorway wondering what was going on but not sure how to ask or if they should try to interfere.  Then, Emma’s stomach started to grumble loudly. 

Zelena looked down at her belly and frowned, “I can’t believe you have a six pack when you never stop eating.”

Emma gave her a cheeky grin, “I got the hot body genes of the family.”  She began to make her way toward the kitchen to fix herself a snack when the sound of a sob from her Mother had her stop in her tracks.  She stopped and looked over at Zelena whose face reflected the fear they both now had. 

Crying was something that they or Henry did occasionally though they kept it as little as possible since Cora didn’t like crying.  She thought it showed weakness.  She reminded them time and time again that they came from a long line of strong women.  They were expected to behave as such.

Henry rubbed his hand over her back before looking at the girls sadly, “Ven a ca mijitas.  Siéntate.”

The girls exchanged a wary look before moving over to the chairs that were across from where their parents sat on the sofa.  By this time, their hearts were beating wildly in their chests and they were both terrified of what came next. They weren’t sure if they even wanted to know what was going on if it was bad enough to make their Mother cry.   

“Are you two getting divorced?” Emma blurted out wildly as she tended to do when tensions got too high.  And the tension in that room made it feel like she were in the very middle of a powder keg about to blow. 

She knew they had dismissed that theory previously.  But it would explain so much of their odd behavior.  The whispering and huddling together that the two of them were always doing.  And all of this - weepy happy family together crap - in a town that her parents didn’t seem anymore keen on being in than they were.

Cora had needed a minute as she tried to compose herself.  She took some kleenex from the box next to her and wiped at her eyes and nose.  She looked over at her youngest shocked, “of course not.  Your Father and I were made for one another.”

Henry nodded his head before reaching across and clasping his wife’s hand.  “There’s nothing in the world that could come between the two of us.”

“Is someone dying?” Zelena was the next to throw out a wild guess.  She was as confused as to what was going on as her sister. 

“No, no one’s dying,” Cora was becoming exasperated.  She held up her hand to stop whatever wild guess Emma had coming her way.  “We have something very important to tell you.”  She cleared her throat and took a deep breath but before anything could come out, she was interrupted by a loud gasp.

“Oh my God!  You’re not like all these old women around here wanting to get pregnant again are you?!??”  Zelena screeched.  “I thought Emma broke the mold once she came out.  Please tell me we’re not having anymore little rugrats.”

“I’m not a rugrat!” Emma yelled back at her sister.  “And I don’t want a baby either.  Please tell us it’s not that,” she folded her hands in a mock prayer and begged her parents. 

Cora rolled her eyes and shook her head, “I’m not pregnant!” 

The girls exhaled loudly.  “Oh thank God!” they both cried out. 

Cora frowned at them, “But I am still _young_ enough to have another child if I cared to.”

Henry squeezed her hand, “I think we’re getting off track dear,” he reminded her softly.

Cora looked at him and nodded.  She turned back to face the girls.  “I think you two should have a seat over here with us,” she patted the cushion beside her. 

After another loaded glance between the two, they’d made their way to the spot that Henry had opened up between the two of them.  Zelena leaned back lounging against her Father who wrapped his arm around her waist on one side and used the other to pat Emma on her knee.  Emma sat worriedly beside her Mother chewing on her lower lip. 

Cora moistened her lips while taking Emma’s hand in her own.  She sniffled as she looked over at her baby girl.  She raised her hand and began to run it through her daughter’s unruly hair, “You both have been asking why we chose to vacation in this town.  And I have to be honest and admit to you,” she looked over to Henry who nodded his head and gave her an encouraging smile.  She nodded back and returned his smile with a watery one of her own, “this isn’t the first time we’ve been here.”  She put her hand to her mouth as if to force back the sobs that had broken through even as her tears began to run down her cheeks.

Zelena and Emma continued to stare at their Mother, their nerves evident across their faces.  Whatever was coming next had to be really bad if it could force the strongest woman they’d ever known to tears.  Emma’s heart was beating wildly in her chest.  Her breath was coming out in small pants.  She could feel her tears stinging the backs of her eyes.  And even though she didn’t know why, she had begun to tear up also. 

Henry sniffled as he wiped his own tears away.  He took over for his wife knowing she had carried this burden enough for the both of them, “the first time we were here was 15 years ago.  That was the night that Emma was born.”

The girls looked at one another.  They had subconsciously begun to move closer to one another.  Zelena had grabbed Emma’s hand and was squeezing for dear life.  Emma was squeezing back just as tightly.  Things were getting real now.  She was finding it almost impossible to breathe.  It seemed as if all of the air was being sucked from the room.  Now that her Father had specifically named her, she knew that whatever came next was about to change her life forever.

Cora wrapped her arms around Emma and pulled her against her.  Emma leaned into the embrace gladly.  The two gave and took comfort from one another as Emma waited anxiously for the remainder of the story. 

Henry took a deep shuddering breath in.  He spoke the rest in a rush, “that night – your Mother and I went to the hospital and our baby girl was born.  And,” he gave Emma a warm smile despite his tears, “it was one of the happiest nights of our lives.  But - ,” his voice broke as his tears began to come faster.  “When we left the hospital, it wasn’t with the baby your Mother had just given birth to.  It was with an entirely different baby girl.”

Zelena gasped and swiveled her head to look over at her baby sister.  Her thoughts fled from her mind as she stared at her dumbfounded.

Emma just sat there slumped against her Mother and stupefied.  She knew she hadn’t heard right.  She tugged hard on her earlobe and shook her head hard to clear it.  This just wasn’t right, her mind screamed over and over.  No! NO!  NOOOO!!!

Cora began to cry harder as she held her daughter closer to her.  She pressed kisses to her head as she rocked them both back and forth.  “You’re still ours.  I promise you my love, this changes nothing.  You always have and always will be our daughter.  And we are your family.  This changes nothing.”

For the first time in her life, Emma knew her Mother was wrong.  This changed everything.

RQ

“Sweetie, we need to talk,” Snow told her daughter as soon as she walked in the door. 

Regina sighed and frowned over to where her parents stood in the archway that led down into the living room.  She had only just walked through the door.  She hadn’t even had a chance to get out of her coat yet.  Leave it to her parents to spoil what had been a pretty good day. 

She’d spent the morning working in the diner as per usual.  Then Ruby had invited her over to her Granny’s house for an impromptu party.  She’d been able to hang out with her best friends Kathryn and Belle.  The trio had sat around near the stereo serving as the unofficial DJ’s.  They’d had a riot just enjoying being the teens that they were until Granny had gotten home and kicked everyone out. 

They’d stopped at the diner to keep up the good spirits and grabbed a fast bite to eat.  Then Kathryn had dropped them both back at their respective homes. 

Now here were her parents with what she knew was another one of their horrible announcements that they’d try to turn into good news.  This was their exact same M.O. when they’d told her about having her baby brother.  Her Mother was crying and her Father seemed teary eyed but that didn’t bother her.  They were both really emotional people so for them, it wasn’t unusual no matter how much she wished that wasn’t the case.  

She sighed again as she sat down gracefully on one of the corner ends.  Snow sat so close to her she could feel her entire body giving off heat like a furnace against her side.  She ignored it and instead put on a blank face to cover the disappointment she was sure was coming her way.

“Sweetheart, we have something of the utmost importance to tell you - ,” David began. 

Before he finish Snow jumped in, “you’re not really our daughter,” she cried out before burying her face in her hands and sobbing.

David turned to her shocked, “Snow!”  He shook his head at her, admonishing his wife silently then turned back to his frowning daughter, “honey, what your Mother is trying to say is - .”

“I’m not really your daughter?” Regina repeated aloud.  She winced and shook her head slightly as her mind began to try processing what she’d just heard.

Snow realized what she’d said and quickly turned to her daughter.  She pulled her into her arms.  Regina was annoyed at feeling her tears fall onto her, “Oh honey, I didn’t mean it that way!  Of course you’re our daughter.  And you always will be.”  She sniffled and pulled away from her daughter.  Tears continued to fall quickly down her cheeks as she cupped her daughter’s chin forcing her eyes that had now turned distant to look into hers. 

“I’m sorry my love.  I didn’t mean it that way.  What I meant to say was - ,” her voice faltered as she hesitated trying to figure out a way to explain the situation to her.

David stood from the seat beside his wife and walked over to his daughter. He knelt down before her and grabbed ahold of both of her hands as he forced her gaze to meet his.

“Sweetheart you know we love you.  And you will never stop being our daughter no matter wh- what,” his voice began to break as he fought the lump rising in his throat.  He swallowed thickly, “what your Mother was trying to say was that – the night you were born – at the hospital – there seemed to be some kind of a mix-up that occurred.  When we left the hospital - ,” his voice gave out so he left her to fill in the blanks.

Regina’s vision swam in and out of focus as a mist that blurred everything before her began to form from the tears that were there just beneath the surface.  She blinked rapidly trying to hold back the offending moisture.  She wasn’t a crier.  She never had been.  She’d gotten enough of that from her parents.  She’d always prided herself on her ability to hold her composure.  But this – this was just unreal.

She could hear her parents continuing to speak to her.  But she couldn’t process any of it.  It was just too – everything!  Her head lolled downwards as her eyes trailed around the room that was at once familiar yet foreign to her altogether.  She wasn’t their daughter?  Her parents weren’t her parents?  They weren’t really a family?  How could this be? 

David shook his daughters hands that he held tightly clasped in his.  This was his baby girl.  And she always would be.  Though he was upset at the turn of events he knew what was most important now was focusing on her.  He wanted to make sure that she understood that she was – and forever would be - a cherished and loved part of their family.  The announcement didn’t change that at all. 

When they got home, he and his wife had gone around and around over this subject.  They’d decided that Regina deserved to know the truth from the start.  But they had only just begun to talk about how to go about telling her when she’d come home.  He’d taken one look at his wife - who was well known for not being able to keep a secret - and he had known what was coming from Snow before she’d done it.  Still – this just felt – cruel.

“We are your Mom and Dad Regina.  You should never question that at all. No matter what it will never change,” he continued to plead with his clearly shell-shocked daughter. 

Regina could hear her Dad.  But it was as if from far away.  She felt as if she were drowning.  The words he spoke to try and cover up his wife’s blunder just seemed to be a betrayal.  She felt as if the pain that was growing inside of her would force her body to fail.  She wanted to scream, cry, yell, or throw things.  But mostly she just wanted to crawl into a ball and dive into oblivion and hope that when she woke up, this would all just have been a horrible nightmare.

She felt as if the world were crumbling right beneath her feet.  She could feel the cracks inside herself that were sure to swallow her up and devour her whole bit by bit.  And she welcomed it.  Because surely that was a more merciful way to go instead of this slow agony as her heart pounded away in her chest so hard she thought it would burst right out of her chest.

“Regina,” Snow shook her daughter who was sitting too still and too quiet beside her.  “Please say something.  Talk to us, please!” she pleaded.

Her head began throbbing as she fought to hold back her tears.  The room had suddenly grown cold and she pulled her hands away from her parents and wrapped them around herself as she tried to still the turmoil that was raging inside of her.  Had it always been this cold?!? 

Suddenly, she took in a deep, painful breath.  Her throat felt dry and she began to feel sick to her stomach.  She drew in gulping lungfuls of air as the sickness in her belly grew stronger.  It took all her willpower to swallow down the queasiness and ask again.  This time in a weak voice she whispered, “I’m not your daughter?”

Snow gathered her closer to her and forced her head onto her shoulder.  David rose from his kneeling position and squeezed himself on the other side of Regina.  He wrapped his arms around the both of them.  The tears that he had been trying to hold back began to fall onto his daughter and mix with those of her Mother as he willed all of the love he’d carried for her since the day she was placed into his arms until now to find its way into her heart.

Regina screamed NO! repeatedly inside her head.  She wanted to pull away from her parents but when she would try she couldn’t find the strength.  Though she was fighting internally what she was hearing, at the same time it made some semblance of sense to her.

She pulled on the anger that was building inside of her that lent her the energy to pull away from them.  She stood and began to pace the small room wanting to put distance between them and her.  David slid into the seat she’d just vacated and he and his wife continued to watch her with heavy hearts and eyes as they wrapped their arms around one another and cried silently. 

“Where are my parents?” she finally stopped pacing and glared at the two of them.

Regina had always had a temper.  It was always easier to be angry than it was to break down and show her weakness. Even as a baby if Snow messed up just a little on the schedule she’d created for her, Regina would get extremely fussy.  

Snow rose to meet her but Regina’s step back made it clear she didn’t want to be touched by her.  Not now anyway.  They could sort the rest out later.  But for now, “where are my real parents?!?” she repeated loudly.

“We are your real parents Regina,” David answered.  Regina scowled and began to pace again.  “But if you’re talking about your biological parents – well they - ,” he looked at his wife lost for words.

Snow took her husband’s hand and kissed it.  She looked over at her baby girl but wasn’t for a second fooled by her angry exterior.  She knew that Regina found it easier to be angry when she was actually in emotional turmoil.  She could see past the wall she’d built up and right now it was clear to her that her daughter was having a hard time processing what they were trying to explain.  In fact, when she looked past the mask of anger on her face, she got scared.  Because she had never seen her look so scared and lost before in her life. 

From the moment they learned the truth, she and David had already agreed to be blatantly honest about the situation.  But it was so hard.  Watching her daughter pull away from her now was making her heart break.  She wanted her to have the truth but at the same time she was terrified. 

Regina had made it clear from an early age that she would take any chance to leave this horse and cart town - as she referred to it so often- that she were ever offered.  She worked herself so hard it sometimes scared them just so that she could ensure she went to a college that was far away from their home. 

And right now Snow feared what having the answer would do to her.  If Regina knew her biological parents were so close would she run straight over to them?  Would she choose them over the Mother and Father who’d raised her and loved her so?  The possibility of the answer being yes terrified her to the core.  And when she looked at David she saw the same fear reflected on his face. 

So instead she played for time.  She sat and watched her daughter’s agony play out as she prayed she’d let them help her through it.  She wanted nothing more than to wrap her arms tightly around her and never let her go. But Regina had already rejected her once.  She knew that it was just so much to process so she tried not to take it personally.  However, that didn’t make it hurt any less.    

Regina felt as if she were on the edge of a nervous breakdown.  This just couldn’t be real.  And yet – it would explain a lot of the differences she had always seen and felt between her and her parents.  Still, this was a horror that she would wish on no one.  She began to self-consciously rub at her heart as if to prove that it couldn’t break out of her chest. 

She knew her parents were still there waiting for her to turn to them.  But the fear, anger, curiosity, hurt, and pain floating around inside of her were threatening to engulf her.  She knew she had to get out of there.  FAST!

“I’m staying the night at Kathryn’s,” she said as she turned and began to fumble through her purse for her keys.   

Snow and David followed quickly on her heels.  “Baby, I don’t think that’s a good idea for you right now.”

Regina turned on them sadly, “Well it’s a good thing you’re not my parents anymore then isn’t it??!???”  She found her feathered keychain in her purse and pulled it out as she ignored her parents gasp.  She made her way out the door and back into the cold night leaving her parents shocked behind her. 

She hurried to her car and got it to turn over after a few tries.  Her father had promised to work on it soon but that had been 4 weeks ago.  Regina had instead done as much work on it herself as she could since her Father’s promises tended to mean a whole lot of nothing.  His intentions were always good.  But his follow through was always lacking.

“Honey,” Snow knocked on her window.  Regina kept her face averted but her frown told Snow that she was listening.  “It’s not safe for you to get behind the wheel this upset.  And anyway, your license has only been granted for special privileges.  You’re only allowed to go to work, school, and stop by the store thrice a week.”

Regina shook her head before she rolled the window down. “Since you’re not my parents anymore, that makes it no concern of yours,” she peeled out of the driveway and away from the curb so hard that the rubber began to heat and screech.

Snow gasped and looked hurt.  She turned to David who had followed them outside.  He draped his arm over her shoulder before pulling her into his chest. 

“Oh God,” Snow cried out as she watched the car she’d allowed her daughter to buy pull away.  “I didn’t mean to do it that way.  Now she hates me for sure!” she screeched before burying her face in his chest.

“Come on now.  She’s a good girl.  We definitely raised her right.  Let’s give her some time to cool off and I’ll go out later and bring her home.  How about that?” he kissed the top of his wife’s head while tucking her tighter beneath his arm.

Snow nodded and allowed herself to be pulled back inside.  She still felt guilty over blurting it out the way she had.  Keeping secrets was never a strong suit of hers.  But she was determined that was the last mistake she’d make.  As soon as her daughter came back through the door she’d cover her in so many hugs and kisses that their love couldn’t be denied.

She made her way back into the house and walked toward the kitchen.  “I have to get something ready for dinner.  I think I’ll make her favorite, tacos al carbon and make sure she has a plate waiting on her for when she comes home.”

David nodded and began to search for the plastic cutting board and the big chopping knife.  Snow handed him veggies to chop as she went through the refrigerator pulling out all the ingredients they needed.  She couldn’t stop worrying at her bottom lip.  She bit into it repeatedly. She needed the pain as a welcome momentary distraction.  It helped to focus her racing mind as she fought to figure out how they would move forward after this. 

Regina was her daughter.  And nothing would ever change that.  Not as far as she was concerned.  But there was also a small part of her mind that couldn’t help but to wonder at the child that she didn’t know.  Her biological daughter was still somewhere out there.  So close yet so far away.

Before leaving the Mills home that night, both families had agreed that they would spend the night speaking with their daughters.  And Cora had invited the entire family over to meet up with one another again tomorrow.  Despite the fact that she wanted nothing more than to curl up and cry, a small smile grew on Snow’s face. 

David tilted his head to the side as he regarded her silently. 

In answer to the unasked question she told him happily, “Now we have 2 beautiful daughters.”

David smiled back at her, although his didn’t come as easily or as brightly as Snow’s.  He was still barely processing the information.  It hadn’t surprised him one bit for Regina to run out the door.  It’s what he would’ve done.  Still, he knew there were a lot more tears, anger, sadness, and hurt that had to be processed through before they could arrive at hopefully a better place than they’d started.

“We’re going to get through this,” Snow said in her happy happy joy joy type of way.  She ran her hand up and down his arm, “And we’re going to be even happier when we come out on the other side.”

David wasn’t so sure about that at this moment.  But he listened thoughtfully even as his attention was claimed by the thoughts of what ifs and what could be’s that had yet to be explored.

He twisted around to stare at the woman who’d given him everything he’d ever wanted.  Though they didn’t have much in the way of physical possessions – what they had was theirs.  And they were grateful for every last bit of it.  Neither one of them would have it any other way.  “Always and forever,” he whispered to his wife as he nodded over at her.

She grinned up at him understanding that he was agreeable to making this thing work out between the two families, “Always and forever.”


	8. Meet the Parents

CHAPTER 8

“Oh my God!”

Regina twisted away from the windowseat that overlooked the flourishing garden, “Will you stop saying that?!??”

Kathryn’s eyes bulged as she stared slack-jawed at her best friend.  “It’s just – Oh my GOD!!!!”

Regina winced at her screechy tone.  She heaved a deep sigh then went back to staring out the window. 

Her Dad (was he still?) had dropped by earlier and tried to get her to go back home with him but she’d refused. She’d insisted that she would be staying at Kathryn’s.  She only felt a little bad as she watched his shoulders slump before he’d walked away.  She’d ignored him staring at her sadly behind the wheel of his truck as she made her way back upstairs to Kathryn’s room.  After the fiasco of this afternoon, she needed nothing more than time away from both of her parents. 

She just – couldn’t.  Not with him anyway.  And definitely not with her Mother.  The two of them had always had a powder keg of a relationship.  Now with this bombshell she had no idea where they’d go from there. 

She just knew that hearing her Mother say she wasn’t really theirs had cut her to the core.  It was one thing to think growing up that she was nothing like these people were.  It was completely different to have your own Mother acknowledge that it was true. 

So here she was hiding out at her best friend Kathryn’s house as she tried to make sense of turmoil her already insane life had been thrown into.  She and Kathryn had been best friends for so long that being at her house was as familiar as being at her own.  Except without all the pressure.  It gave her a sense of grounded safety to be there.

Kathryn herself had her own problems just as everyone else did.  Her Mother had passed away when she was a young girl.  Her Father was a workaholic who buried himself in his work in order to deal with his pain.  And unfortunately that left his daughter to fend for herself unless he needed her for a publicity stunt.  For as long as either could remember, they were the closest thing to family that the other had.  Since Kathryn was part of the elite class and Regina had dreams that were bigger than their working class small town the two of them had formed an instant comradery in childhood that they were certain would last them a lifetime.

“I just – I don’t even know what to say,” Kathryn breathed behind her.

Regina rolled her eyes and smirked before dropping her head onto the window.  She took momentary comfort from the cool glass, “join the club.”

“And your real - ,” Kathryn broke off as Regina’s head sharply turned her way.  She rolled her eyes, “I mean your biological parents.  What about them?”

Again Regina turned her back and stared out the window, “I guess I’ll find out tomorrow.  Dad – David says that they wanted us to come over for lunch tomorrow.”

“That could be a good thing then right?”  When Regina turned her head slightly toward her with a puzzled expression on her face, she elaborated.  “It means that you won’t have to wait long to meet them.  And now everything’s out in the open.  From here on out at least you know what you’re working with.  And you can figure things out from there.”

Regina huffed and shook her head at her friend.  She wrapped her arms tight around her as a cold seemed to seep from the inside of her bones outward.  Though she loved Kat as a sister, there was no way to explain to her any of the whirlwind of emotions that were swirling inside of her when she herself didn’t even understand them. 

She curled up tighter as she leaned further back against the pillows lining the windowseat.  She was so out of it she was asleep before she’d even realized it.

MF

Emma was starting to cramp and feeling a little claustrophobic as she began to push her way from underneath her family. They were all dogpiled together on the sofa where they had been since their announcement.

“I think I’m going to go to bed now,” she slowly got to her feet and grabbed her crutches.  She began to slowly make her way to her room.

“You sure you don’t want me to make you something to eat?” Cora offered.  Eating always brought Emma joy no matter what was going on around her.

“I’m not really hungry,” she sniffled. Then she stopped and turned back around, “Maybe just some fries and a milkshake.  And a burger if we have it.”

“Of course mijita,” Henry jumped to his feet.  He threw his arm around his daughter as he steered her towards the kitchen. The rest of the family followed close behind.  “You can have whatever you want,” he kissed the top of her head before depositing her onto a stool at the kitchen island.

Henry fired up the deep fryer and the indoor grill while Cora pulled out the ingredients for Emma’s late night meal.  She didn’t normally allow a lot of processed foods around.  Back home they had a housekeeper who did a lot of the cooking.  But with Emma’s bottomless pit of a stomach they’d thankfully stocked up on a few things on their last shopping trip.

Zelena poked her head in the refrigerator before coming out with a basket of fresh strawberries, “fresas?” she asked as she held them up.

Emma nodded miserably as she watched her family move around the kitchen from her perch. 

Zelena whipped up a batch of strawberry chocolate chocolate chip milkshakes while Henry attended the grill and fryer.  She poured the finished shakes into glasses and added straws before placing one in front of everyone there.

Cora sat at a stool across from Emma’s as she completed the mise en place, “My dear you do know this changes nothing right?  We are still and will always be your parents just as you are and will always be our daughter.”

Emma nodded woodenly as she sipped at her shake, “sure.  Whatever,” she muttered.

Zelena gave her sister an apologetic look as she took the stool beside.  She wasn’t sure how Emma would take it but couldn’t stop herself from asking, “So – who are her bio parents?”

Emma perked up surprised she hadn’t bothered to think about that as she too waited for the answer.

The activity from her parents came to a comic standstill as they both froze in place.  After a couple of minutes of the two of them silently communicating with one another, Cora took a deep breath and plunged in.  “Well – you see dear - .”

“They’re coming over for lunch tomorrow,” Henry interjected as he plopped the grilled buns in front of his wife.  She gave him a small grateful smile for the reprieve as she began to place the condiments and veggies onto the buns.  She grabbed plates and got them all lined up.

Emma frowned and refused to relent.  She wanted to know, “yes but who are they?”

Cora sighed and lowered her head.  She took a deep breath before looking back up at her daughter.  “Tomorrow my love.  You’ll know everything.  But for tonight, I don’t want to overburden you.  Can we please just have the night?”

The room was silent as everyone waited for Emma to give them an answer.  Emma continued frowning thoughtfully as she weighed the request. She saw no difference in whether she found out tonight or tomorrow.  It all seemed the same to her either way.  Still, it was already late.  And she guessed a few more hours wouldn’t kill her.  She really did already have plenty to think about.  Reluctantly, she nodded.

Henry lifted the fries and put them to drip off the excess oil while he put the burgers onto paper towels and patted them dry before transferring them to the buns.  Then he spread the fries on a paper towel lined cookie sheet and patted them dry before adding salt and garlic powder and tossing them together.  He dumped them in a bowl and laid them in the middle of the table as he passed everyone a burger.

The rest of the meal passed quietly as everyone stayed lost in their own thoughts.  That was fine for everyone involved.  They all had too many things running through their heads.  Afterward everyone helped with the cleanup and putting away leftovers.  When there was nothing left to keep them from avoiding it, they made their way upstairs. 

Emma leaned on her crutches and lingered in her doorway while she stared around her new room.  It wasn’t ‘her’ room.  Not like the one back at home.  But she’d still liked the way that it had come together.  And she’d had a lot of fun with her family as they visited different stores and picked out new furnishings.  But as she stood in the doorway she felt like a stranger who’d been forced to live in someone else’s home.

Cora came behind her and saw the conflict in her daughter’s eyes.  She wrapped an arm around her and instead pulled her down the hall to their bedroom.  There, Emma dropped her shoes and jeans before climbing into the bed.  Cora did the same before she climbed onto the other side.  She pulled Emma over into her arms as she cradled her against her shoulder.

Zelena stood looking longingly at them before Henry wrapped his arm around her.  “Come mijita.  There’s always room for family.”  She blushed her gratitude as she followed her Mother and sister’s lead of dropping her shoes and jeans before climbing next to Emma in the huge king sized bed.  She threw an arm around her sister’s waist and hugged her close.

Henry went into the bathroom with a pair of pajamas bottoms and a tshirt.  After he’d gone through his nightly routine Henry joined all 3 of his ladies in the bed. 

They thought they’d spend a sleepless night bogged down by the days’ events.  Instead they all quickly fell into a deep dreamless sleep.

RQ

Regina pulled into Granny’s and stood beside her car as she waited for her parents to show up.  She’d agreed to meet them there before they all made their way over to meet her real family together.

She’d spent the morning agonizing over what to wear.  Then agonizing over her hair.  Then hating herself that she cared so much. 

She wasn’t sure what kind of protocol there was for meeting your parents for the first time at 15.  There were no rules of etiquette for such a thing.  She decided to settle for simple yet classically elegant.

Her makeup was a light dusting of powder, dark pink lips, with neutral colored summertime eye makeup.  She lightly lined her eyes and only put on one coat of mascara before turning to her dress. 

She’d borrowed one of Kathryn’s designer summer dresses.  She went with a dark pink butterfly sleeved dress that fell down to just above her knees.  From the middle of her bicep the sleeves had a slit that went all the way down to the ends.  She paired it with a set of beige Rosaria high heeled sandals that gave her a couple of extra inches in height.  Thankfully she was drawn to simple French tipped mani/pedis which went with almost everything.

Kathryn helped her with her almost hip length hair.  She was going to just curl it and let it hang loose.  But because she had a really bad habit of playing with her hair when she was nervous or self-conscious, she wanted it out of her reach.  So instead she’d settled on one long French braid and allowed her natural curls to balance out the end of it.

As she watched her parents pull up beside her she closed her eyes and slowly counted to 10.  She wished she could be a normal kid who could bury themselves in drugs and alcohol. Alas it was not for her.  She hated not being in control of herself at anytime. Aside from the random drink if she was feeling frisky at a party she preferred sobriety.  Which at times like these always had her wondering why.

“Honey,” Snow leapt from the truck and threw her arms around her daughter.  Regina stayed stoic in her arms as she continued to remind herself that the day had just started and she could do this internally.  “I’m so sorry about last night.  I didn’t mean it.  You must understand we were all just running on raw emotions.  I – .”

“Can we just go ahead wherever we’re going now?” Regina interjected.  She was completely at the end of her rope when it came to her Mother.  She didn’t have it in her to comfort her.

Snow pulled back with a hurt expression across her face.  Regina took the opportunity to step as far away from her as she could.

David had come around the truck and hugged his steadfast daughter.  He pulled back and ran a hand up and down his wife’s arm soothingly.  He opened up the third door to the truck, “Come along my loves.”

Regina managed to muster up a small smile for her brother who sat in his car seat inside.  Though he could be a little monster sometimes, the kid wa still awfully cute. 

She shook her head, “I’ll follow you.”  It was precisely the reason she’d brought her own car.  That way she could leave if and when she wanted to.

Both her parents frowned as they looked at one another.  “Alright,” her Dad eventually relented.  After giving her a quick kiss to her temple he opened her car door for her.  “Put on your seatbelt,” he warned before shutting the door.  He opened the truck door for his wife who climbed back up and inside of it.  She turned and fixed Regina with a sad smile and a little wave but Regina kept her face averted and pretended to be busy putting on her seatbelt and starting her car.

Regina waited until David had pulled out of the diner’s driveway before following him.  It wasn’t until they were weaving through neighborhoods that she realized where they were going.  “Of course,” she dropped her head onto the steering wheel with a groan.  She couldn’t believe she’d been so stupid. 

It hadn’t even occurred to her to associate the newest residents of the town with this new bombshell that had exploded in her life.  She’d been so preoccupied with her anger at her parents that she’d avoided thinking about her ‘real parents’ -as Kathryn had insisted on calling them – at all.

Sure enough, as they pulled into the circular driveway of the largest house in the town, she could’ve kicked herself for being so daft.  And as the family began to make their way out of the house to greet them, she instantly recognized them.  The parents, the redhead, and the blonde who had taken her place. 

She’d met them briefly the other night at the party.  She’d said hello and admired their expensive looking shoes and clothing.  It wasn’t often someone with style or money came to this town.  Or ever – for that matter.  Other than that she’d sat with her friends and just enjoyed the night.

“Oh my God!” she thought when her thoughts stopped flying around her head long enough for her to be coherent.  From the corner of her eye she watched her Dad made his way over to her car.  She realized she’d been sitting there staring like a complete idiot.  She quickly gathered herself as her Father opened her door and held out his hand for her. 

She wanted to ignore his hand.  But instead she reached out and clung to it like she had as a little girl.  She smiled up at him gratefully as he put his arm around her and held her tight against his side.  He pulled them both forward before reaching out to where his wife stood beside their truck with their son.  Together, the family made their way through the path to where the other family waited on the circular front porch. 

Her Dad’s arm tightened around her as she felt her heart and breathing accelerate along with his.  Had it not been for his help she would’ve made a complete fool of herself falling to the ground.  She kept her eyes trained downward until they reached the porch.

She heard a small cry which drew her attention upward.  She ended up staring into the large waterlogged brown eyes of the auburn haired woman who was obviously her Mother.  The woman was staring at her with so much emotion flowing from her that Regina had took an involuntary small step back.

For a moment both families did nothing more than alternate staring at the family before them then away.  Surprisingly, David was the first to step up and offered his hand to the husband, “Thank you for inviting us here once again.”

“Si, si,” Henry nodded enthusiastically as he shook his hand.  He turned to Snow and nodded at her in greeting, “It’s nice to meet you again as well.”

Snow swallowed down the lump in her throat.  Little Neal began squirming in her arms as the tension in the air became too thick for him.  She switched him to her other hip before pushing out a small laugh.  “Excuse our little man here.  He’s just a bit nervous,” she said as she eyed the blonde who was leaning on her crutches and silently staring at them with wide green eyes.

Cora cleared her throat and turned to her youngest.  She smiled lovingly at her she took her daughter’s hand and squeezed it, “our Emma was quite fussy as a baby too.”  She reached back for her oldest daughter’s hand before threading their fingers together, “this is our oldest Zelena.”  Both girls nodded at the family before them but neither said a word.

David cleared his throat, “well little Neal here sometimes takes his role as the Prince literally.”  He looked over to his daughter before pushing her slightly forward, “and this here is our beautiful Princess, Regina.”

Unable to stop herself, Cora dropped both her daughter's hands and stepped forward.  As if unbidden, her arms came out and tears began to fall down her cheeks as she moved toward her daughter.  She pulled her into her arms before anyone could react and buried her face in her hair, "Welcome home my dear."

Emma's heart plummeted as she watched the pair.  She stared in horror at the display in front of her.  Before anyone could make another move she'd turned and hobbled back into the house as quickly as she could, slamming the door behind her as she went.


	9. Homecoming

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **I'm sorry but the last edit of this chapter was horrible. Seriously it haunted me. Sorry it took me so long to get around to editing it but here it is. **

**CHAPTER 9**

“I’m sorry,” Cora pulled back from her daughter while trying desperately to reign in her emotions.  She didn’t want to frighten the girl away before she’d even had a chance to properly get to know her. She wiped at the moisture that had collected beneath her eyes as she fought to compose herself once again.

Regina stood frozen with the air knocked out of her lungs.  She could barely process her thoughts in that moment.  She had no idea a complete stranger could turn her emotions into such a whirlwind.  She gave her a tight smile but no one missed the slight step back to her Father’s side that she took.  Nor the frown that crossed his and his wife’s faces after watching what had just taken place in front of them.

Cora’s cheeks flamed red.  She wasn’t normally a sentimental or emotional person.  Back home she was known for her iron will and self-control.  She blamed the stress of the situation for her emotional outbursts.  “I’ll just go see to Emma,” she nervously explained to cover the awkward silence that had fallen over everyone.  Just as she reached the door she turned back before entering, “Henry, why don’t you show our guests inside?”

“Of course, of course,” Henry immediately jumped on the opportunity for distraction.  He ran up the porch stairs and held the door open for their guests, “Please come in.  Just make yourselves at home.”

MF

Emma had made it up the stairs by the time she heard the door below her opening and closing. 

“Emma!” Cora called to her from downstairs. “Emma?”

Emma kept going to her room and slammed the door shut.  She turned on her stereo and cranked the volume up as far as she could before collapsing across her bed.

“Emma,” Cora came in without bothering to knock.  She made her way over to the stereo and powered it off.  She stood for a moment trying to catch her breath after the jog up the stairs.  She really needed to work out more.

Emma held her childhood care bear Mr. Frown E. Face tight against her chest where she lay curled up in a ball.  She called him Mr. Frowns.  She grabbed him close whenever she was feeling vulnerable.  He went with her everywhere.  Even to sleepovers.  He’d been with her most of her entire life. 

At one point she had the whole collection of care bears.  She had never been one for dolls.  The bears had been a bit of an obsession with her at one point.  She considered them all personal best friends who knew all her secrets.  And even though she wouldn’t admit it, she still refused to allow her parents to throw away any of them away.  They were all kept safe, freshly washed, and sealed in plastic wrap inside the attic. 

But Mr. Frowns was special.  With his blue rainy cloud across his belly and his sideways not quite a frown, he had always had the power to cheer her up.  “I get it,” her voice came out muffled since her mouth was buried in Mr. Frowns fur.  She sniffled, “She’s your real daughter.”

Cora sucked in a breath, “Emma Rocio Mills!  You are my real daughter. And I will never allow you to say otherwise.”

Emma turned and glared at her Mother, “You just told her welcome home!  Don’t even think about denying it.”

One side of Cora’s lips curled up while she gazed at her daughter pensively, “I wasn’t going to.”  She walked over to the bed and sat down beside where her daughter lay.  Emma turned her head and stared at the wall before her.  “I meant what I said and you know that I don’t lie.  You are and always will be my daughter.  And I hope that she feels and understands that this is her home and she’s always welcome here as well.”

She drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly.  “This situation - ,” she shook her head and chuckled mirthlessly.  “I don’t even know what to call it,” she waved her hand through the air before letting it drop heavily onto her thigh.  “It’s not what any of us wanted.  Your Father and I have been through pure hell since we found out.  And even though I wouldn’t wish this on anyone in the world – at least we know now.  And we can all work together to move forward.”

Emma turned away from her Mother.  She understood what she was saying.  But that didn’t mean she had to like it.  Which she definitely didn’t.  “Fine.  Now will you please go away?”

“No I will not,” Cora scoffed.  She moved until she was in her daughter’s sightline. “Emma,” she began to stroke her daughter’s hair knowing this was one way she liked being soothed.  “This is and will probably for a while continue to be weird and awkward for us all.  Maybe even painful at times.  But your Father and I made the decision to come here and face it as a family because we knew we had to.  For her.  But also for you.”

“She’s really pretty,” Emma said almost in an accusatory way.  Her Mother swore nothing would change.  And yet everything already had.  She had another family out there.  And what looked like a little baby brother.  How could things be expected to be the same? 

“All 3 of my girls are beautiful,” Cora smiled whimsically.  “Your Father and I have been blessed, I’ll give you that.  But downstairs just now – when you were face to face with people that you now know you’re biologically related to – did you really feel nothing?”

Emma had no answer to give to her.  She had no idea what she felt.  Or how she was expected to behave under these circumstances. 

Her whole life it seemed she’d been trying to fit in and be as pretty and smart as her Mother and sister.  They were so completely different from her.  And though she knew she was loved – the acceptance part had never been easy. 

Now there was an entirely new family just standing outside waiting for her.  But for what?  Was she expected to call them Mom and Dad?  Were they her Mom and Dad?  Were they expecting her to leave her home and go with them?  Her thoughts were all over the place and there was nothing but a huge swell of emotions churning inside her that threatened to constantly pull her under. 

She looked up at her Mom with tear sodden eyes, “I don’t know how I feel.  I don’t even know what I’m supposed to feel,” she cried before throwing her arm over her Mother’s thighs and burying her head against her. 

“And this is precisely why we’re here,” Cora continued to sit with her daughter lightly stroking her hair.  They stayed that way until she’d cried her last tear. 

MF + CF

“Strawberry Lemonade?  Or maybe something stronger?” Henry offered the family as they made themselves comfortable around the living room table.

“A beer would be nice,” David nodded his approval as he sat on the sofa beside his daughter. 

“The lemonade is fine,” Snow smiled her thanks as she took a seat beside her husband.

Henry hurried away to fill the drink orders.  They waited in awkward silence for him to return.  Regina sat quietly as she looked around the room taking in every small detail that her eyes could make out.  Snow fiddled with Neal’s sailor outfit that she’d put on him that morning while he squirmed on her lap trying to get away from her prying hands.  David fiddled with his thumbs and Zelena nervously avoided eye contact with the entire family. 

“Here we go,” Henry carried over a tray with coasters, napkins, and drinks.  Everyone perked up happy for the distraction as they each took small sips of their drinks. 

“The weather here has been really nice,” Henry offered up as a conversation starter.  Though he was a people person, his wife – ever the politician – was better at keeping the conversation flowing than he was.  He sat on the sofa seating opposite their guests with his eldest by his side. 

“Yes, yes,” David quickly agreed.  “Though the winters can be brutal.”

Again the group lapsed into an awkward silence.  Everyone kept glancing toward the stairs awaiting the rest of their party.

Finally, once the silence had stretched to a painful end, they heard the clack of heels and the thump then dragging of Emma’s crutches as they made their way down the stairs.  A collective intake of sharp breath was heard all around as Cora and Emma made their way back downstairs.

When they walked into the living room, Emma dropped down heavily beside her Father while giving everyone a sheepish smile.  She was grateful when Henry threw his arm around her and hugged her close to his side.  She buried her face in his side as she tried to hide her flaming cheeks.

“Cora,” Snow squealed a little louder than she meant to judging from the way everyone’s eyes widened.  “I love what you’ve done with the place.”

“Well we still have a few more things to do to make it feel completely like home.  But we’ve all been working together and I think it’s coming along fine.  We should take a tour after lunch,” she offered.  “I’d love for you to see the renovations.”

Suddenly a timer went off in the distance.  Henry jumped up grateful for the distraction.  “I’ll just check up on dinner.  If you all would like – you can move ahead to the dining room.”

Although no one was hungry, everyone was eager to get this day over with as fast as possible.  They all leaped up and followed Cora into the lavish dining room.

Everyone felt the strain in the air as they basically all sat around the table and picked at their plates.  The adults settled into a really weird pattern of talking about the most mundane things like weather, traffic, and interior design ideas while the teens sat in silence.  Emma kept her eyes glued to her plate not wanting to invite any attention her way.  Zelena stared at the girl who was supposed to be her real sister as she tried to see how they were related.  Regina gave up the pretense of trying to get any food down and sat desperately trying to ignore the stares around her. 

She hated that feeling of being a zoo animal on display and that’s precisely how she felt right now.  The redhead was staring at her in a puzzling way with large unwavering blue eyes.  Her parents were watching her reaction to being watched by the couple who sat across from them.  The people who were supposed to be her parents kept staring at her as if they wanted to grab her tight and never let her go.  It was disconcerting to say the least.  She tapped her foot repeatedly as she silently prayed for the torture to end quickly.  She was grateful when the adults finally announced that lunch was over and they should take coffee and dessert back into the living room.  When asked, the adults each chose regular coffee while the teens all asked for latte’s.

The others made their way back into the living room as Snow offered to help Cora with the cleanup.  Cora started the coffeemaker then began to put the food away as Snow cleared the plates and placed them in the dishwasher.  The two worked in silence before the strain of it got to be too much for Snow, “Emma’s very beautiful.” 

Cora smiled and nodded, “so is Regina.”

“Oh yes,” Snow agreed instantly.  “Even as a baby she was the most gorgeous little one around.  I used to put her in pageants when she was younger and she won every single one of them.  Then she decided she was too old for such silly things,” she shrugged as she finished putting the last plate away.  She grabbed a sponge and began to wipe down the counters.

Cora raised an eyebrow as a small smile danced across her lips, “a pageant?  I think my girls would die if I ever even thought of trying that with either of them.”  She’d finished putting the containers away and walked over to the cappuccino machine and began to fill the drink orders.

Snow chuckled, “she actually loved performing as a child.  When she was younger I had her in dance classes and she loved doing the competitions.  She won every single contest she was in.  All she had to do was to flash those huge brown eyes and she had the judges eating out of her little hands.  Then she got older and her interests changed.  Now she spends most of her time with her nose buried in her books.”

“Sounds like she’s got her head on straight,” Cora began putting together a tray to carry the coffees.  She remembered to grab napkins and coasters and added them to the tray as Snow rung out the sponge she had used before washing her hands. 

“Yes,” she agreed. “But we try to always remind her to have fun.”

Cora nodded with a small tight smile on her face.  Despite being a publicly elected official she couldn’t remember ever having been put in a position so awkward before.  She pulled out one of the family’s favorite cakes that they’d had shipped down from New York for them and added it to the tray.  She stood back assuring herself she’d forgotten nothing.  “Shall we join the others?”

Snow nodded and held the door open as the two made their way through the spacious living room to join the others.  Cora put the tray down on coffee table and began serving while she rejoined her family on the couch.  She noted that Neal had already fallen asleep cradled in his Dad’s arms.

Back in the living room they noticed that the room had darkened forewarning the arrival of an upcoming storm.  It made the parents a little leery since it was the beginning of how they’d all ended up together this day.

“I’m a little confused.  How exactly did you mix the two of us up?” Regina gestured to the blonde who sat beside her – their? Mother.  “I mean, I don’t have blonde hair.”

Zelena snorted, “neither does Emma.”

Emma glared at her sister, “My hair was almost white for a really long time.”  Zelena just rolled her eyes at her while trying to control her giggles.  The blonde turned to her Mother with her forehead scrunched in confusion, “yeah I’d like to know that too.”

Cora was the one who piped up an answer to a question all 4 parents had been asking themselves since finding out about the situation.  “Well Emma wasn’t born with blonde hair.  She had dark hair until she was about 4 months old.  I just walked into her room one morning and it had just all fallen out.  Obviously, we rushed her to the hospital.  After forcing the doctors to examine her despite them telling us repeatedly there was no emergency, they explained that it’s actually a common occurrence for blondes to be born with dark hair,” now that the memory was in the past she could chuckle at how crazed she must’ve looked to the doctors. 

“When her hair started to grow back it was blonde.  And it stayed that way for a long time.”

“Now it comes from a box at the salon,” Zelena continued laughing at her private joke. 

Emma gave her a sharp elbow which led Zelena to giving her a hard jab on the arm.  “Ow!” Emma whined as she nursed her arm.  “Mother!”

Regina watched the two in silent fascination. Though she knew it was nothing more than sisters being sisters it still made her a little sad at missing out.  She couldn’t even imagine ever having moments like that with her brother.

Cora ignored them both as she customized everyone’s beverage and handed them out. She opened up the boxed crepe cake and began to slice it before handing out the pieces.

Snow was still battling with her own personal guilt over the entire situation.  She was supposed to have known that she had someone else’s baby.  But how?  She had been so doped up that night.  And then completely exhausted after the delivery.  She’d ended up falling into the deepest sleep she’d ever known after giving birth, “there was so much chaos that night.”

Cora nodded, “there were people everywhere screaming.  The hospital was short on nurses, doctors, and beds.  We were lucky to even get a room.”

Emma who wasn’t used to having to hold things in was the one who burst out with the question that was uppermost in everyone’s minds, “how do we fix this?”

The parents all stared at one another wide-eyed while the teens sat and waited to hear what came next for them all. 

Henry placed his hand upon his daughter’s knee and gave it a slight squeeze for support, “We are doing it mijita.  Legally, the two of you are who you are.  There’s no changing any of that.  We brought you here not only to give you the truth but also so that you could get to know your biological family if that’s what you choose.  So I guess the next step is up to the two of you.”

Cora turned back to her beautiful daughter.  The girl’s beauty was still mesmerizing, “and we would love to spend as much time with you as we can.  To get to know all that we can about you and for you to do the same.  If that’s what you want?”

Regina was amazed and a little overwhelmed by the depth of emotion the woman who was supposed to be her Mother directed at her.  She seemed always on the cusp of throwing her arms around her and never letting go.  She looked away not sure how to respond.

Her entire life she’d felt like an outsider in a foreign land.  Now she knew that she had basically been right.  She was a foreigner in her own home.  They weren’t her real family.  And yet they were all that she knew.  Despite their multitude of flaws.  They were her family.  And she loved as well as knew that she was loved with them.

David cleared his throat loudly.  He wasn’t exactly comfortable with how much attention the couple heaped upon his daughter.  One of their reasons for coming here today was to assess exactly how far they were willing to go to achieve those goals.  If they had any plans of taking Regina away from them then that would be a fight to the death as far as he was concerned. “And we would love to get to know Emma better.  If that’s alright with you,” he directed his statement at the blonde who – despite the coloring – looked so much like his wife to him.

Emma’s cheeks flamed red and she dropped her eyes quickly after giving him a shy smile. 

“I hope that we can all agree that we only want what’s best.  For all of us,” Snow threw in.

The family lapsed into another bout of silence.  But this time instead of being filled with fear and dread, they were already looking forward at the possibility of family to come.


End file.
